Storms and Roses
by Farah.AshTree
Summary: Ringo had been hiding something from Ikki all these years, and now that he's finally had the chance to find out what it was.. he wished that he didn't. Ikki/Ringo
1. Chapter 1

The masses roamed around the busy street of Tokyo , some with a purpose , while some others are just killing time by walking aimlessly and adding to the congestion. That day the normally blue sky was dark and dangerous , each cloud was hovering near each other , blocking the bright ray of sun. Tiny creatures down below could tell that a heavy rain was about to pour down the grounds of Tokyo.

Somehow , this weather made them more anxious than before . As if the weather was an omen of an ever bigger , even more malicious scheme rather than just a thunderstorm . The thousands of clicking of heels and shoes beating down on the clammy earth was like an army of unorchestrated music . It sounded dark and lonely , yet full of promise. The promise of getting back to the comfort and safety of their homes.

There were people carrying bags , guitars , food and various items in their hand . But one person carrying the most bizarre item went unnoticed . A human. A human slumped in the crook of two strong arms of a spiky dark haired teenager wearing a black hoodie and jingling chains chained to his pants , dragging them down. He strolled casually ,wearing a haunted and strained look which made nobody to dare come in contact with him. Everything about him was absolutely normal , except for the part there was an unconscious girl in his arms.

If nobody knew , no one would notice the 3 men carefully following his every move , weaving their way through the crowd silently like snakes . They didn't utter a single word , but nodding to each other once in a while and fixing their eyes on the boy ahead with the girl in his hands. One was a golden haired boy wearing a beanie , whistling to himself . The other a few metres ahead was a mere boy probably in his early teens . His face resembled what most thought as a shark , yet still managing to pass on as adorable . As he bumped with yet another passer by ,the boy fouly coursed under his breath . The third was rather intimidating . He towered the rest of the Asian midgets surrounding him , with his dark skin and steely eyes it wasn't very hard for him to simply walk through the crowd .

Then finally , after a few blocks , they turned into a narrow , filthy alley .

None of them said a word , and the silence hung in the air like dead bodies. The spiky haired boy stared solemnly to the ground , then he whispered close to the girl's ear.

"Ringo , I'm sorry" . Then slowly , the boy with the beanies turned to him and asked "Ikki , what now?" his voice sounded urgent.

Ikki stayed quiet . He knew what he came here for , but he still couldn't find the right words to put it into . Especially not to his best friend. When did it come to this? He sighed before speaking. Staring straight into his friend's steady . patient orbs , Ikki finally answered "Kazu ..They sent us here to kill her"

Kazu stared at him , dumbfounded . From behind he could hear an audible curse from the boy. _'He has got to be fucking kidding me..'_ He thought . "Ikki , you..you're not serious.. are you?" He asked , swallowing his own saliva as if it had been turned into a boulder. Kill Ringo? That sounds a little far-fetched. But Ikki didn't say anything. His eyes had turned lifeless , like someone had sapped the life and evergy out of him. "I am." He replied monotonously.

Out from the corner of Ikki's eye he saw the shark move in and said "Then what are you planning to do?" Even from the tone of his voice he knew even the formidable shark was disturbed. This was new. The order had came sounding a little different , and Ikki just felt it in his guts that this might just destroy him , his life , and everything that was built around it. Restless , Ringo shifted uncomfortably in Ikki's arm until she found a perfect spot to rest on. Her face hid in the crook of Ikki's arm , and Ikki couldn't help but feel a little jealous at the her comfort. How he wished that he could do the same.

"I. WON'T. Do. It" Each syllable was clipped and taut , matching the expression on Ikki's tense babyface. There was no question in that , he wasn't going to kill the person he had known all his life for some fucked up order , and he wasn't going to start with this one. They could've given him a whole list of yakuzas and he would have killed each one of them with a grin on his face , but they didn't. "I'm going to bring her away" Ikki said , looking at Ringo's peaceful expression. _'I'm going to protect you no matter what. NO ONE is gonna hurt you, no one'_


	2. Chapter 2

I think I forgot to mention an importnt announcement the last time , so I'll caps it this time:

DISCLAIMER : AIR GEAR IS NOT MINE NEVER WAS NEVER WILL BE ;D (but his boys are mine)

On to the chase~!

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A man dressed in a black suit sat on top of a large chair made of solid mahogany . Even without words , the man was intimidating enough not to be trifled with . The man sat elegantly as Ikki bowed respectfully on the red carpeted floor . "Sir , you called?"

"Yes , I'd like you to ..terminate this enemy" He emphasised on the word terminate like it was poison on his lips . Ikki nodded , and the man threw a bunched up roll of paper which he caught easily in air . Then he turned to leave ,but as he reached the door , the man spoke .

"Ikki , I chose you personally to do this mission and I expect you to execute it with flair, understand?" His voice was sharp , shrill and laden with command . No one dared disobey him . Ikki answered before disappearing behind the door , "I understand" .

But that was all before he read the enemy's name .

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Somewhere far from town , in the suburbs where rats and cockroaches live in perfect harmony with the humans in their home . Where the air reeked of smoke and danger. A place where no hope exists . Up in the second floor of a torn building was Ikki and Ringo .

Ringo woke up with a start from a nightmare . In the dream she was being chased by many big , hungry wolves and as fast as she ran . she couldn't shake them off until one of them finally sank it's sharp fang into her shoulder. That was when her eyes opened , and when it did , Ringo gasped .

The walls were too barren . The air smelt much too damp and musty . Her pupils wildly searched the room without much success to her confused brain . _'Where am I?'_

She didn't get too far as her eyes landed on a familiar boyish figure . He was looking out the window to a building across the street , sounds of honking and curse words could be heard clearly . Somehow , Ringo knew that the boy by the window wasn't the least bit fine . His shoulders tensed , and looked about ready to pull his hair out of their roots.

Her absent-minded brain didn't follow with the rest of her body , and her hand reached out callously for him . "Ringo.." He said , turning to face her , and she let her hands drop . Her mind went to a jolt as she saw his lifeless expression . His usual smile had left his face , and in replace was only a pair of sad brown eyes and a deep frown. Behind the light , his messy black hair appeared like a halo of fire . '_Ikki ,Whats wrong?'_

She stayed silent , but she simply stared into his deadpanned eyes. It was as if he was screaming out an S.O.S from within , and in a whim Ringo almost reached out to embrace him . Ikki ran a hand through the black mob of his hair and turned his face away from her . He could hide all he wanted , but Ringo knew him better than anyone else

Ringo pushed the sheets away and landed her feet softly on the floor . They felt cold . Then quietly, she walked towards Ikki .Still , he didn't turn to face her , and he stared impassively at the floor even when she stood in front of him . Slowly , she got to her knees and placed her palms onto his knee , looking up at him . _'Oh'_

Two fat tears were running down the line of his jaw . He looked so very much in pain that she felt an overpowering urge to gather him in her hands . "Ikki.." Ringo whispered . He turned to look at her , uncertain . "Come." She extended a hand for him . Ikki looked at her hand for a second before taking it into his square hands . She then lead him onto the bed and made them sit at the upper corner .

_Maybe when he's ready , he'll tell me what this is all about , but for now_ .. Ringo carefully wrapped her arms around him and whispered softly in his ear . "You can cry now , Ikki" . At first , Ikki remained statue silent , but then as moments passed and Ringo held onto him that he finally brought his hands to wrap her in his arms and the dam of tears he held back was unleashed.

He howled silently in the crook of her neck , wetting her shirt with his salty tears . He kept repeating the same words over and over again . "I'm sorry.. I'm sorry.. I'm so sorry" Behind his eyes , he saw a dead , hollow face that belonged to the girl he had in his arms . But she didn't know that . Ringo just rubbed his back and said "It's okay" assuringly , though even she couldn't seem to believe her own words . They felt treacherous, deceitful

After a good half an hour , Ikki , shaken but somber , calmly let go of Ringo . He hesitated , but then when she was fully in sight he finally smiled . A broken one , but one just for her.

"Thanks , Ringo."

Ringo looked him square in the eyes unwaveringly , and asked "Ikki , tell me . What is it?" She spoke calmly and squeezed his arms to reassure him . Yet , Ikki turned away from her , refusing to answer . Somehow , she knew he was going to do that . In an instant , she brought him face to face by her thumb and index finger holding his face firmly in place . Though she wasn't so good at words , Ringo knew there must be something , anything she could do for him . So she smiled the smile only they knew .

"Come on , it's me . What have you got to lose?" She asked jokingly , though inside she knew the answer wouldn't even be close to humorous . "You." Ikki finally answered. The one word didn't make much sense , but it meant the world to him . "You , Ringo . I'm going to lose.. you" Time stood still . The world outside was too busy to care for one person's misery . So , dust particles continued floating aimlessly , and all they heard at that moment was their breaths.

"What.. do you mean?" Ringo gulped . The boy sighed a long breath and steadied himself . "This is gonna sound stupid, you in for it?" He asked . "Yes." And that was all he needed to hear.

"You know how I always come back late , or sometimes .. I don't - at all? Well , I work for the yakuzas by night , as an assassin . He pays me a lot , plus the fact that I'm really good at ATs makes me sort of like, his favourite pet or something like that.." Ikki took a few seconds before continuing . "And I won't beat around the bush because it's you , So I'll tell you the truth. My latest order came in the day before yesterday ," Ikki paused "It said to kill Noyamano Ringo." Ringo stared at him the whole time , and now when he delivered the final blow , it seemed like it had all been a joke . A big , silly , joke .

She didn't say anything , instead she looked into his eyes for a sign , but there was none . "You're not kidding , are you?"

"No."

"And I'm the one you were ordered to kill?"

"Yes"

Ringo took a deep breath before saying the next sentence .

"Are you going to kill me?"

"NO."

"Ringo," Ikki ruffled the top of his hair "the hell am I gonna kill the person that I.." His voice trailed off and his eyes zeroed in on something distant . Within seconds , his irises grew large and pushed her down onto the bed hard , screaming "DUCK!" before a shot burst through the window to hit a bedlamp just inches away from them . "Damnit" Ringo kept looking back and forth between him and the opposite building , but before she could utter another word Ikki's hand covered her mouth . Her voice came out muffled from her protests.

Ikki gave her a look and shook his head "This is not good." He muttered silently . " We need to get outta here. Now" Ikki bent both of them over and pulled the curtains shut . The whole room seemed ethereal-like , like it had came out of a black and white movie . Ikki moved fast , grabbing a backpack and leading them through the back door .

"Wait , Ikki! What was that?!" They were standing behind the iron grilled door . Ringo looked out the window to see a flight of stairs hurrying from the top of the building to the ground . "I saw a sniper , just in the opposite building- he was aiming right at you" Ikki said through gritted teeth . The bloody sniper was snickering with a thin gun settling comfortably by the windowsill, aiming at her – _That bloody Percival_

Just the thought of the likes of him getting their hands on Ringo was enough to make him go wild . "..Ikki! Hey , Come on. Don't space out on me now, whats going on?" Ringo shook his shoulders hard , yanking him out of his train of thoughts. " I'll fill you in on the way, for now.. get on" Ikki pulled on his ATs and offered her a hand . Ringo took it and he held her securely on his back before he jumped across the wall onto the rooftop .

They stood on top of the building , skimming the area . Ikki puts her down and started walking to the edge of the rooftop "Alright , that shot just now was from a sniper . Hes one of the best in the organization . Names Percival , a cold blooded snake . He would've shot you in the head if I hadn't pushed you" Ikki said , anxiously .

_How the hell could I have missed him?! He was RIGHT THERE._ He knew he couldn't repeat the same mistake again.

The wind blew softly , but it sent chills up Ringo's spine . She was _thisclose_ to being killed. Her saliva trickled uncomfortably down her throat . Today had been a warning , but she was too carefree to care . Her ATs were safely chucked beneath her bed , leaving her exposed to the outside danger. Great

"Ringo!" Ikki called out at her , throwing something black at her . She caught it and felt through the dark material , _Hey , isn't this.. _Ringo's hand found themselves in contact with wheels and fair enough , when she got full view of the object it was none other than her very own ATs. "How.." She looked up at Ikki questioningly . " I figured you'd be needing it sooner or later." And he smiled , a slow smile that reached his eyes . " 'Sides , I'd always been watching you, that wasn't so hard to find"

In that moment , her mind whirled . What did he just say ? Watched her ? Shouldn't that be the other way round? Without noticing , Ringo had already slipped into the pair ATs , then she raced ahead to him .

As she neared him , she saw his smile fade , and that made her feel as if her heart was being pinned with a thousand needles. It hurt worse than breaking a bone . "Ne , Ikki. Don't frown , you look like an old man" Ringo said , grinning . That made him smirk . " Oi monkey , speak for yourself" Ikki said , jabbing at her arm . They laughed for a moment , but then it died away

"So, where are we going now?" Ringo realized that she was speaking in terms of plural . Ikki clicked his tongue and flipped out his cellphone. "Don't worry , I've got a plan B" the phone receiver was immediately picked up , behind it was a posh sounding voice of a male "Yes , Ikki-sama?"

"I need a place –"

If anything , the speed of his reply would've put cheetas to shame

"On it, Where are you?"

"Downtown , near the old shoe factory" Ikki replied, figuring anywhere far from the place was better than nothing.

"Transport will be arriving in 10 minutes"

Ikki made a quick mental calculation . He can't stay hidden for long , those men knew their way around the neighbourhood ,and Percival would've alerted the others by now. Chances are they're not likely to make a clean escape , but he'll take it.

"Fine , but send a bullet proof ride. Be discreet. I'm in a tight spot here"

"Yes , Ikki-sama" His voice though controlled , sounded bothered.

Ikki clicked his phone shut . The old factory was roughly 2 kilometres from the place they're at . It shouldn't take too long to reach, especially with the help of their ATs. Something was rather off , the wind was silent and even though the masses below were still contributing to an extent of noise , he knew there was just something not quite fitting in the picture. He pulled on Ringo's hand cautiously "We gotta go, come on" .

It was a good thing the buildings weren't so obvious looking from ground , and he was praying that Percival lost sight of them . Then he heard it , the soft landing of heels . _Cluck _Was it him or is there _another_ set of AT's some 20 m behind ? Ikki peered through his lashes slowly , and there he was , a black jacketed man whispering into a walkie . _Shit_

It wasn't an option , he had to take the messenger down before he could send more information of their whereabouts . Now would be a good timing . "Ringo , I'm sure you heard . Old shoe factory downtown , I need you to go ahead first , theres something I need to take care of." His eyes wandered to the back building , and the man who had been in hiding just wasn't frugal enough to take care of a tiny piece of black cloth hanging , exposing him without him actually noticing . Ringo noticed all that .

"No , No way. I'm not going anywhere." Ringo released her hand from Ikki's grip and stared him directly in the eyes. "God, woman! This isn't the time to be debating about this .. ! " Ikki's eyes flashed angrily , but Ringo stayed rooted. "You do whatever you need to do , but I'm in it with you." Ringo countered , firmly. And that was that.

The way Ikki took the man down was too easy . He crumpled the man top to toe and crushed the walkie to a pulp , rummaged through the man's pockets , stole a load of cash and a fancy looking revolver which he kept in his breast-pocket before leaving with a cruel , satisfied smirk on his face . Oddly enough the smirk had spread on Ringo's face too.

They encountered not more than 3 of the yakuza troops , had they taken the normal route they would've been bombarded with machine guns and would probably be lying in a pool of blood by now . Though of course Ikki had already obtained a bruise the size of a fist to his right arm and a torn sleeve from the thin baldy and a huge slab of wood. Ikki turned to a corner , it looked pretty small – barely enough to fit a Husky , but it'll do . Ringo moved in first , followed by Ikki .

Neither of them noticed , but they had laced their fingers firmly during their escape , and It was only now when they were jammed together like a pack of sardine in an alley did they actually realized it. His hands were soft and warm , and it sent a sweet sensation down to the base of her stomach . "Ringo , you alright?" His voice chimmed in , jolting her .

"Huh?! Y-yeah! Of course .Why not?I mean, I'm feeling okay" She mumbled consciously . Ikki gave a tight squeeze "It's gonna be alright" His breath was right in her ear . The moment they tumbled out of the alley , they found themselves in the abandoned parking lot of the factory . Ikki sucked in a breath , _if Aeon isn't going to turn up soon , I'll kill him_ .

The man sure had an entrance . A black car , sleek with tinted glasses pulled up in front of them . The car door opened and a tall , spectacled man in his mid twenties stepped out , pulled the back door open and motioned for them to get in politely "Ikki-sama" and he glanced over at Ringo "..Noyamano Ringo." He said , disdainfully.

Just then they heard muffled shouts "There! You idiots , GET THEM!" the sound was there , but no human. Minutes later , Ikki and Ringo had already hopped inside when they witnessed a riotous sight of adult men scrambling to fit through the hole they just took. Ikki rolled down the window , screamed "FUCK YOU!" , gave the men the middle finger and quickly rolled it back up as guns started pointed towards him .

"Traitor! You know he's not going to let you go so easily!" Ikki heard that last bit , even when it was almost drowned in the clatter of bullets hitting the window and body of the car .

He slumped in the leather cushion '_Yeah , I know_'

_But at least I know now I'll never let go of her_


	3. Chapter 3

"Fuck! We lost him, damnit!" Percival was already aggravated to the max , that bloody worm was so close . _So close. _If it hadn't been for that annoying black car Ikki would've been dead by now . No matter , that's not whats important at hand. The problem now was to report back to the chairman of his _failure ._

Percival's cursing multiplied tenfolds .

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Thank god for the boy's ape-wired brain's usualness to Aeon's high-end apartment was already aligned or he would've probably lost it by now. Aeon wasn't the type of person who kept things under blankets , he flaunted them . His personality traced every edge of his sheek , elegant and smug haze of his misty apartment. The walls were an immaculate white , with bland pictures of messy blotches of paint framed neatly on the wall.

Aeon flung his coat on a cream coloured leather chair and proceeded to sit on it . He took a deep breath and rubbed his temples . "Ikki sama , this has gone too far . You're the first on their blacklist , what do you plan to do now?" Aeon said without turning around . Back against the wall , Ikki looked outside of the 23rd levelled penthouse and sighed . _What now?_

"Geez , I don't know. But things are going to get down and dirty , so you better start preparing yourself for it, but for now. A bath " Ikki sniffed himself and cringed . Okay , he smelt like fish thrown in with bad milk - not exactly the best aroma around . "You know where the bathroom is." And Ikki stalked down the hall , taking off his bloodstained shirt in the process. Just as he was going to enter the toilet , he turned around and looked at Ringo .

She had a blank expression on her face as she stared passively out the window. Maybe she wants to run away after all this . She'd even hate him for making her go through all of this , but she must have done something , or kept something from him to be able to get herself on the yakuza deathlist . Ikki shrugged and entered the bathroom , locking it softly.

The moment Ikki turned on the shower , Aeon turned to Ringo and said "What's your game , Thorn Queen?" . Ringo ignored Aeon and continued staring out the window. Aeon scowled and continued "Look, Ikki-sama is Simca sama- no , Trident's hope. I won't let it get destroyed and I'll crush anyone who gets in his way. Including you , Thorn Queen" His voice echoed sharply through the living room.

Outside , it was raining cats and dogs. The rain pelted angrily on the tinted windows. Ringo smiled and said "Destroy me? I don't think its that simple , don't you think?" She turned towards Aeon with a pair of steely lioness eyes. Aeon gulped and steadied himself . "Then leave Ikki-sama alone" . A minute of silence ticked by.

_You're the Thorn Queen , your duty is to protect the Sky Regalia. Protect it with your life. Noyamano Ringo , Can you take on this responsibility?_

_..Yes_

"Aeon , I can't. The Gram Scale Tournament is a long , wicked battle . You'd know. It doesn't show anyone mercy , it does not wait for you to hold back and cry , its cold. It's a cold and lonely battle and I don't want him to be apart of it, Don't you understand?!" Ringo countered , gripping the fabric of her pants. They were disgusting and filthy , just like the AT world. She felt a lump forming at the base of her throat and she swallowed back her saliva , hard.

Aeon snickered " Don't you think thats his decision? You're not his mother" He stated , point blank . Ringo was stunned. Well , of course she wasn't his mother . She was simply trying to protect him , was that too much to ask? Ringo tried to think of a clever comeback , something that would prove him wrong , but her mind was an empty void. There was no argue and reason in that . He was right .

Ringo turned away from Aeon without saying a word . Behind , Aeon inwardly gave himself a pat on the back . _So that's what this is all about_ Ringo was trying to shelter Ikki from the bloody mess using herself as a shield, how very Ringo .

The rain did not stop for the rest of the night. So did the tears in Ringo's heart.

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It was near 1 in the morning , and the apartment was pitch black . There was no moonlight , for the moon hid itself behind covers of dark clouds . The apartment smelt foreign to Ringo , they were too clean . Usually , she could smell the earth from her room and a constant blanket of woody aroma throughout the house . But not here , everything was new , everything was just so .. detached.

The only thing that felt closest to home was the man sleeping next door . He was the epitome of safe and comfort . Ringo clutched tightly onto her blanket and buried her face into it , inhaling its smell . _'I want to go back home'_ She thought . Just then , a lightning struck . It was the biggest one , and definitely the scariest so far . Fear clutched on to the edges of her heart.

Ringo started sweating , even when the aircond was set at 19 , and it was raining heavily outside . It was cold sweat , born out of fear . Times like these was when she began to really appreciate those late night presence of Rika Nee who would hold her through the night like a mother she never had. Rika Nee sat by her and soothed her till she slept. Maybe now that she was alone in a place far away from home she was starting to miss those simple things she took for granted.

She started tearing , and the lump she felt before became worse . They spilled out of control. Everything was just going in the opposite direction . Ringo curled herself into a fetal position and wept.

Ikki couldn't bring himself to sleep . His body craved for relaxation , and his mind was pushed beyond its limit of exhaustion . Yet , he couldn't close his eyes . All he could think about was .. Ringo Ringo . He must be out of his mind , thinking about her till the wee hours in the morning . There should probably be a law against thinking too much . That was probably how nuclear bombs were created in the first place . Too much thinking

Ikki yanked off his covers and shivered. It was well below 16 in his room ,and most certainly more than that outside . He pulled on a pair of neon orange socks and pulled his sweater close . Then , he sneaked out of his room . At impulse , his eyes lingered on the door next to his . Ringo's room . _She must be sleeping now_

Quietly , he pushed open the metal door . Without a sound , he peeked into her room . She wasn't sleeping as he thought she was . He felt a pang of guilt after forgetting her one fear , lightning. How could he have forgotten about that? Guilt flooded in Ikki . Slowly , he pushed the door open a little wider ..


	4. Chapter 4

Fear ; It grips you like a vice until you choke , feel your lungs gasp for air , feel as if your eyes were pricked with thousands of pins , feel as though your mind would go crazy and even then when your heart beats its last , fear stabs its last through your heart . Then by some mercy , you die.

To Ringo , that fear of being trapped under flashing thunder booming in the sky had robbed her of her senses. The blankets didn't help . She didn't even hear the door open , all she heard was her fast breathing and choked sobs . Where is Rika Nee when she needed her the most?

Ikki moved slowly , and when he was right in front of her , she still didn't notice his presence. Then , in one effortless movement , he had her wrapped up in his arms . Ringo jolted from under her blankets "..Who're you?" She asked softly. Her voice wavered. She tried to struggle out of the stranger's grip , but it felt as if a white knight had came to strike down her worries and fears . Her muscles relaxed

Ikki rubbed her back gently and pulled the blanket over her face to reveal her shocked , wet and tired face . Her eyes were bloodshot and terrified and her brown hair stuck onto the arch of her brow down to the nape of her sweaty neck .

As if by reflex , his lips found themselves moving forward till it touched her sweaty forehead . The contact sent warm shivers down her spine , and her fear evaporated as if it had never been there in the first place . How did such a simple action take all that fear away? Ringo looked up into his eyes and saw his dark brown eyes looking warmly at her .

Her hand then lingered on her forehead . Ikki nodded and smiled warmly . Then , he got up and headed for the door. At that moment , Ringo's hand shot up so fast she almost dislocated her arm as her fingers grabbed at Ikki's sweatshirt tightly . "No! Don't.. don't go! Stay with me" Ringo half screamed .

Ikki turned back and gave a wide smile "Don't worry , I was just going to _close_ the _door_ ,silly" He said . Ringo let go , but never took her eyes off his back , afraid he was going to leave . Ikki ran for the door and closed it without a sound . The room was turned pitch dark in less than 3 seconds. Ringo sat up in her bed blinded without light for what seemed like an eternity . Just when she thought that Ikki had gone and left her all alone , Ikki launched himself like a bullet at the bed ; full blast.

"Ringooo!!!" He jumped excitedly onto her bed and made the bed creak dangerously . Ikki laughed obscenely when Ringo started to hit him " What if the bed broke into half just now?! You ape brain!" She had meant it to sound stern , but her voice broke in the end and she too started to laugh . The bed vibrated along with their laughter.

Somewhere in the middle of their merry-making , Ikki suddenly went quiet. He was right next to her , and she could hear his breathing . _In , out , in , out._ Ringo stopped laughing and sat next to him , waiting . He still didn't say a word . Inside , her insides started feeling weak and restless. _Say something_

"Ringo , are you angry?"

Ringo let out a soft exhale of relief.

"No.. just a little confused." She replied , folding her knee and hugging it to her chest . She laid her head onto her arm , waiting for his reply.

Ikki let out a somewhat relieved sigh too . "Ah. I am too" He replied . _I've got to ask her_

"Ringo , If there was anything wrong , you would tell me wouldn't you?" Ikki asked . He couldn't wait any longer , he wants , no , has to know. Would she deny him the right to know something so crucial ? Ringo who had been rocking herself silently suddenly stopped doing so .

She didn't utter a single word . "Ikki , what made you say that?" She asked , startled . "Well , I'm sure the Organization doesn't just go killing people for the heck of it . And I'm damn sure they don't go hunting for an average teenaged girl for no absolute reason . So whatever it is you did , tell me . I'm your best friend , Ringo. Tell me. I need to know" By now his voice grew forceful and a little disappointed. Ikki turned his head to the girl he knew was no longer looking at the wall.

Ringo gulped. When did he get so .. perceptive? "Ikki.. I..I'm" She stammered . "I.." Ringo couldn't find the words to continue . She'd rather bite her tongue than lie to him . She'd hidden so much from him , hurt him so much, what right does she have to hold this secret from him ?

She does , and she will continue doing so until the time comes . But not now.

Ringo closed her eyes and dragged in a slow breath . "Ikki, remember that picture in Rika-Nee's wallet , the one with everyone ? Do you know who I was pointing at ?" She asked . "No. Who?" Ikki replied , side-tracked for the slightest bit . "I was pointing at you. You know why?" Ringo asked again, her calm voice wavering a little . "No. Why?" Sensing the change in note , Ikki's voice rested on a softer tone .

"Because you're my best friend . You were there for everything" _and all I did was lie to you, again and again_ . Ringo added silently in her head. " You know me well , too well. You know that?" Ringo laughed bitterly ._If only you didn't._ "But this , I can't let you know. I'm sorry , Ikki" she said , the words barely escaping her lips.

Ikki didn't scream , nor did he tried to protest. He simply sowed his mouth shut . That seemed even worse than him ripping his vocal chords yelling . This was torture . Another lightning flashed . Ringo flinched just the tiniest bit , what was lightning than losing a friend? She looked at him in the dark , knowing that he wasn't looking at her . He was trying to search for an answer

_What is the answer to the books of lies he had been lead to believe all these years?_

Unknowingly , her throat tightened , and a painful lump formed at the base of her throat . It began growing like the tears that had welled up like a dam behind her eyes. "Why won't you say anything?" A tear fell and rolled off her cheek.

"Why?"

_Because I'll someday destroy your wings and you will plummet 100 feet onto the ground , and this time , I'm not there to catch you._

" I'm sorry. I'm really, very sorry. It's not that I don't trust you.. its just.." There was a steady stream of fresh salty tears on her face , but she ignored them. Selfish needs are not tolerated in the face of somebody putting his life on the line to save you , only to be repayed with nothing but more ingratitude . Ringo wiped her tears away.

" Fine , I understand. Though I really don't understand anything. I trust you" His voice was changed , determined . If she saw his face , she would've seen the man she was trying protect all these years had long outgrown the cage she set him in. She should have realised that fact a long , long time ago. But Ringo wasn't blind.

She smiled in the cold, dark room " Thank you"

That was the part where Ikki should've left and made a beeline for his bed , but he didn't. The moment the words parted her lips , he pushed himself into the bed more –making himself perfectly comfortable at home .

"Uhh , Ikki. Sorry to interrupt , but just what the hell are you doing?"

"Making my bed comfy. You should get some sleep , Ringo"

The boy was too dense. Too dense she simply had to give up and go along with his plan. "Fine , but if you do anything funny , I'll personally chop those brothers up myself and feed them to the dogs. Got it?"

Ikki chortled "Yes , ma'am"


	5. Chapter 5

Morning : 9.07 am

"Wake up you monster!"

That wasn't the first insult he had used since 8:43 am .

"..Go away.." Ringo murmured , half asleep. Annoyed , Ikki proceeded to whack her on the face with a not so fluffy pillow . In fact , he could've probably stuffed it with rocks before hitting her face with it. Moving on , the pillow delivered it's purpose . Her eyelids cracked open .

"IKKI I'M GONNA KILL-" Her sentence was cut halfway by the view that greeted her . This is not her room . And even if it wasn't , why does it look as if a nuclear bomb had exploded in it? Torn cushions , ripped curtains , a fresh scent of something rotting.. her stomach flipped. Ringo shuddered . Everything about the place seemed haunted . The barren walls looked as if it had a sinister secret awaiting behind, like someone had stuffed humans instead of concrete inside it.

Her feet instinctively took her to the source of the stench . It was repulsively alluring . Dangerous yet mysterious . Ringo pushed open the door a crack , and the door broke . Startled , Ringo stepped away and removed the door carefully. _What the hell is going on?_ The living room was partially destroyed . Traces of whatever that was left of the human inhabiting the place was evidently erased off . There was no one . "Ikki..?" Ringo quietly asked .

Her voice died off . In the midst of the catastrophe , she heard a sound . A weak answer . "I'm here.." Its positively his voice , even though there wasn't a single piece of him to be seen anywhere . "Ikki!!! Wait , I'm coming!" Her feet hurried up the broken penthouse . The broken staircase creaked like a broken see-saw. Then she saw a room , with the door splattered with blood , opened. "Ikki , are you here?" Her voice trembled . All around her was a thunderstorm . Right towards the door was a sickening trail of thick blood trailing .

She should've known better than to look.

And there he was. A lifeless puppet hanging on a rope attached to the ceiling , blood dripping endlessly from the cracks in his skull. He should've been dead , but the nightmare was that he _wasn't_. With a dislocated right arm hanging by his side , he tried to reach out to her. Every inch was slicing his flesh from his bones , but he still reached out . Ringo couldn't make her feet move. Then , a sound jolted her from her daze. "Ringo.." wheeze "Help.." He stared right at her , through his thick eyelashes . More blood dripped to the ground. Her foot shot forward , but halfway through, Ikki started spazzing. His whole body spazzed as if electrocuted. 3 seconds later , he seized to move

_No .. No .. This can't be happening.. _

"IKKI-!!!"

"RINGO! Are you okay?"

The bed sheet that had been pushed to the floor with Ringo dragged along in it had already been kicked to the furthest corner of the room . Had it not been for someone , more items would've followed suit. Through her crazed eyes , Ringo finally saw him . Very much alive , in full flesh. And incredibly worried as well as annoyed too.

"Geez! What were you dreaming in there?!" Ikki asked while pulling her up to the bed . However, she was half asleep,so his question came in as bubbles in her head . Ikki took one look at her and he knew that the girl was not back to reality just yet. With her eyes half closed , she attempted to make a comeback which came out something like this "Mean Ikki! Mean.. Eat.. I eat Ikki." Now that was partially disturbing , especially when he was supposed to drag her to breakfast. Ikki cocked an eyebrow.

"That's it , woman . Come back to me. Here puppy" Kneeling , he gently slapped her pale cheeks until her irises were able to focus. When they did , his hand unfortunately , hadn't. "What the ?!" A 1000 Volts punch landed on his face ,knocking his senses flying out of his body momentarily . Ringo rubbed her eyes ferociously. _Wait , That was Ikki wasn;t it? Hes alive! _

When realisation finally sunk in , Ringo let out a yelp and enveloped Ikki into a massive , crushing bear hug. You know , one of those hugs that you _really_ don't need. _That one_. "Ikki!! I've never been so happy to see you!" She squeeled , smiling very widely. As for the victim , through his suffocating attempts to speak , he only managed to squeak a sad little cry "Can't.. breathe" "huh?" "I CAN'T BREATHE YOU MORON!"

"Oh. Oh! Right" And she let go of him . Groaning , Ikki glared at her and spat "I'm not." Ignoring Ikki , Ringo continued smiling and pulled herself up and went outside , leaving him to tend his broken bones alone. "YA! Hurry up or I'll finish everything!" Ringo yelled , followed by her tinkling laugh . "Why do I put up with this female Amazonian tribal bitch?" Ikki groaned again and walked towards the kitchen .

Afternoon : 2.35 p.m 

Ikki knocked the door to Ringo's room twice , after hearing her approving reply , he opened the door. " Ikki , what is it?" Ringo asked , eyes expectant . She was sitting on the bed with her pajamas still on . Ikki sighed , "I've got your clothes" Ikki said , smiling while holding a fat Chanel bag , obviously stuffed with female needs in them evident from the bra strap sticking out of the zipper. "Awesome! I can finally change out of these" Ringo said while pointing downwards towards her pants , but to Ikki there only seemed to be only one particular , intriguing place down there..

Ikki tried hard not to look towards the direction she was pointing to , but failed anyways . Peek . Blush . Ikki groaned inwardly and tossed the bag towards Ringo . "Uh, right." Before Ringo could say another word or point in any other direction that might make Ikki any redder than he already was , he made a swift exit while mumbling something unintelligible . The door slammed shut with a worrisome bang . 2 seconds passed . Then , Ikki who was leaning against the door heard Ringo's amused laugh and blushed. Again .

Afternoon : 3.00 pm 

Dressed in a laced white blouse matched with skinnies , Ringo stood in front of the mirror , putting on a thin line of black eyeliner . If she's going out , no one should know. All Ikki knew was that she was supposedly the damsel in distress. Well , we'll see about that . The black worn out metal wheels of Ringo's ATs rumbled slightly , protesting in silence. This wasn't the best idea.

The hallway echoed with Ikki's noisy cheer as some sportsmen Ringo knew nothing of dunked another shot into the hoop. Men and their sweats . Ringo stood silently in her room , thinking . The front door or the balcony ? Or is that too obvious.. And other possibly unsuspicious route formed at the back of her head within seconds , mostly rejected . But one was acceptable. She hoped

Ringo stepped out into the hallway towards the living room. Just as another 6 foot tall Lakers missed a 3-pointer shot , earning a well deserved groan from Ikki , Ringo called out from behind . "Hey, I think I'm gonna go out for a while. I need to go get some fresh air." The words were normal enough , but it made Ikki turn around with a blank look.

"No." He said blankly, and turned around to watch the match. Of course she knew that was coming ,but what was there to say anyway? "What, you're some kind of bumper now? I know how to take care of myself." Ringo said stubbornly and turned around heading for the door. Not halfway through , Ringo felt a rush of wind by her side. In under .47 seconds , Ikki stood in front of her with an annoyed look. "Ringo, please don't do this" _Darn his grip is tough_.

Do it , Use your female fatale charms. Theres got to be some in there.

How those actresses did it was beyond her understanding. But if she was going to make this work , she'll have to summon her inner diva. From below , Ikki could see her lower lip trembling , her eyes shifting uncontrollably and in any given situation would a man be anything but panicking like mad. Ikki kept cool , but obviously , his head was about to blow from excess panic. Tears had already formed at the brims of her eyes.

"Hey..hey! Don't cry..Damnit. Don't cry" The cliché words of a man at a loss formed at the speed of light , but his will still remained unchanged. His grip loosened only by a teaspoon's worth. This was a battle she didn't want to lose to. Hence , tears streamed comfortably down her cheeks , as if saying "See, I'm crying and theres nothing you can do to stop me". He tried , the poor boy tried hard.

"Ringo , please don't cry. You know I'm doing this out of concern for your safety, right?" He persuaded. After a few weak tries , he opted for the second option , beg. "Please don't cry, Ringo. Pleasee?" He was then on his knees , wiping away tears using his thumb. Most affectionate , except that it had no effect on the girl who had absolutely no intention of stopping her tears whatsoever. By the 7th minute , he went from desperate to desolated.

At first , the tears were meant to be for show . It wasn't supposed to be real , but then Ringo remembered the reason she had to do this in the first place and began crying for real. It deserved a standing ovation. Even the rain had nothing on her. His pleas came off as background noises , drowned by her sobs and the sound of her sucking back slime from her nose . Ikki must have been deaf , or he was just desperate . _Or maybe , just maybe , he loves her to not notice the disgusting things she did? _

Finally , Ikki gave up. With a sigh , he gathered her in his arms and held her silently . "Ringo , If anything happened to you .. I won't be able to forgive myself. Ever." Ikki murmured softly into her ears. Were siblings supposed to do this? No. Her heart sunk , there goes. "But.. I trust for you not to be waving your ass out there and get yourself caught. So.. 1 hour. That's all you've got. 1 hour. If you're late by 1 milisecond , you're so dead." Ikki let go of Ringo , who to his annoyance had a sweet smile formed on her face.

"Thanks Ikki " She replied sweetly. Then without warning , she pulled his hands so that he'd stoop lower , just enough for her lips to reach his cheeks . "Eh. What-?" His question stopped halfway as Ringo kissed him very lightly on the cheeks. His pale face gave him away when all the blood came rushing in.

He didn't even hear the door close.


	6. Chapter 6

Again , the clouds clumped darkly together as if sulking in a corner of the vast sky. They whined , and the masses below flinched . But only when the began to grumble did they hasten their steps. Why is it that people only listen when they are threatened? The laws of the world had always been simple, the strong survives. The weak..

Under the gray clouds , two people meet in a musty , crowded old bookstore. Those type of antique stores which homes dust and mystery. Where old and older sentiments sit and stay seated forever . Somewhere that makes you feel as if you've taken a 100 years step backwards . Somewhere in which the books it houses are only of those dog-earred and nearly crumbling . That's where Ringo headed to .

She casually entered the shop , hands inside her pocket. Looking around the 2 storied bookstore , she ventured towards the top floor towards the horror section. The bookshelves piled row by row crowdingly. The bookstore was quiet if not deserted , except for a few thick-rimmed glassed old men who sat by the window reading old haikus. Ringo stood in front of row 13 , looking around and listening to the old men reading the haiku aloud.

On the same lane was Kanon.

He whistled happily like he always did while walking past Ringo into the next lane. Their shoulders brushed slightly , and in one smooth movement , a paper was pressed into Ringo's palm as the same time a paper was passed into his. They continued ignoring each other , simply minding their own business. Then , Kanon said something from behind the shelves . "Is this really what you want?" He asked .

Ringo's finger traced the backbone of one book , staring absent-mindedly at it. "Yes." She whispered , loud enough for him to hear. His whistle stopped. Behind , Kanon's hand bunched up to form tight fists. " No regrets?" He pressed. "None" Ringo answered . All was quiet again, and both of them stood face to face with two rows of books in between . The old men continued reading the haiku aloud.

"_**..After killing  
a spider, how lonely I feel  
in the cold of night!"**_

_That's right. I'll feel lonely won't I? But aren't we all ? We came to this world alone , and so will we when we exit it. _" Well, tell the team to get some rest before the.." Ringo couldn't seem to make her tongue say the word aloud. She refused to . Kanon sighed turned around , heading down . He lifted his hand and dropped it as he headed down the staircase . The boy begun whistling again , but this time his tone dropped an octave lower .

Ringo stayed at the same spot for a couple of minutes , pondering . Then , one of the old man saw her and called out to her . "Young lady, you! ..Yes you. come here!" He called . The old man's soothing voice jolted her out of her thoughts . Ringo turned around and quickly walked towards the man and bowed politely . The man had an old book with a faded blue cover with the words "Sakura Petals" printed on it. He beckoned her to sit next to him and closed the book.

" You know , back in my days , we used to go around hiding the best things we had . Or else the other kids would find it and take it away from us." He laughed "I hid my best toys from my older brothers , and they never figured it out. I was pretty smart back then!" The old man chortled again. Ringo listened attentively and laughed along

All was silent again , Ringo waited for the old man to speak again.

"You have the look of someone hiding something." When he spoke again , Ringo was stunned by the warmth in his voice. He looked at her through his old eyes , the look a father gives towards a daughter . All of a sudden , Ringo felt sad . Her heart felt heavy . "Do I look like that?" She scratched the back of her head awkwardly. The old man only looked at her patiently , then suddenly, words started pouring. "I..don't know what I should do. Theres this person, and he loves going for the extremes.. And he always gets hurt because of it. He never listens to me and he's always making me worried. Always.." Her words tumbled out and without realizing it , her eyes found themselves looking at the old man . As if looking for an answer.

"He must be an important person to you then.." The old man answered. He then took out a pipe and lit it up with shaky hands. Ringo looked out the window towards the masses walking below. It had started raining already "He's very, very.. important to me." She answered slowly. The clock read 3: 55, another 15 minutes and she'll have to be back at the apartment .

"Sir , I'm so sorry , but I really have to be back now." Ringo said . The old man simply blew on his pipe and formed a smoke in the shape of an O. Casually , he replied "Alright. But remember , appreciate what you have while you still have it. Theres no point crying over spilt milk, dear." The tone of his voice suggested that he knew more than she realized he did. Ringo found it odd , but excused herself nonetheless.

Oh , it was raining cats and dogs out there. '_I should've brought an umbrella_' Ringo thought, annoyed. "Oh well." And out she went onto the packed , wet streets of Tokyo.

A young man just past his 40s , dressed smartly stepped out from behind the counter. "She left already?" He asked while taking a sip from his coffee. "Yes, but don't worry. We'll be seeing her soon enough" And the old man took another smoke from his pipe , chuckling.

Back at the apartment:

Ikki couldn't sit . He couldn't think . He couldn't blink . He couldn't move an inch from his spot. All he did was look anxiously back and forth between the door and out the window , where rain was pouring like mad. Also , he was all too aware that Ringo didn't have an umbrella with her. '_She's gonna be wet'_ He thought worriedly. But of course the list doesn't stop at the obvious . _Shes gotta be really cold, and she could catch a cold from being too cold.._

What a cold place the world is . Another 5 more minutes , that was all. His mind began drawing evil plots in his head , mainly involving Ringo being kidnapped and shot alive. He shook his head so furiously that all dandruff that had been nesting in his scalp for generations got shook out for good. Then , he looked at the clock again . Another 3 more minutes . 180 seconds of pure agonizing torture

The air-cond inside the apartment had already been set at 23 degree celcius , but somehow the rain _outside_ had started an snowstorm in Ikki's head . A brain freeze was to be expected any minute now. Finally , the string that had been holding him sane all this while snapped. He grabbed an umbrella hanging on the stand and ran out the door , forgetting to lock the apartment in the process.

Ringo walked slowly , without haste . She was a snail in a middle of a stampede . All else seemed to move , except her feet that dragged themselves one at a time . Her eyes itched , her throat tightened and her hands held onto the piece of paper lightly. A small figure , passive and unwavering as the river . The thin piece of paper in one hand , a life in the other.

Rain pelted down onto the ground mercilessly . Despite it all , her being drenched from top to toe , she didn't feel a thing. Like a broken razorblade sawing her heart into a million chunks , with her unable to stop anything. Like watching your head chopped off , in slow motion . The letter , despite its insignificantly light weight , felt like a thousand pounds in her hands . Its too late , Sora will make his move and there's nothing she can do about it.

'_Not unless..'_

Ringo closed her eyes shut , willing her tears to fall back and failed . A salty tear slipped from the corner of her eye and mixed with the dirt carried by the water in the rain. "I can't." She said to herself and quickly opened the paper , careful not to let it get wet . The paper was no bigger than an A4 sized paper , and the instructions written in it filled not even a quarter of the whole thing.

On the top right corner was Sleeping Forest's emblem.

" _**National Library , 00:00 , all storm riders , be ready to annihilate"**_

Ringo swallowed her saliva , but it didn't ease the constriction in her throat. She crunched the paper into a ball , then letting it drench under the rain along with herself. If she wants to let it all go , she could simply step out onto the streets and get rammed by a cheap Honda and it'll all be over. Except things weren't that simple , nothing will get solved . The tournament will proceed , according to Sora's gameplan.

Why of all times must she get so weak? No. This time something else had awaken inside her , and it isn't that Diva who broke down so easily . Ringo looked up , continued walking and tossed the piece of paper into the trashcan . This is not a game. They are no longer 4 years old . Instructions must be followed.

Ikki ran like hell . He ran faster than the time he was nearly caught by the Strom Riders , faster than when the neighbourhood dog chased after him .

If he didn't , there was a chance of him losing something of immeasurable importance. He jeans was clinging to his skin , getting heavier with every step . His breath came in hitched . _I should've never let her go_

Whats more frustrating was that he was dumb enough to be fooled by her . Ikki grunted and held his head in his hands . He couldn't take long either , she wasn't the only one hunted here . More people passed by him . That small figure , wearing a white blouse was still nowhere to be seen . Another lightning flashed in the sky , and more rain came pouring down .

'_You can't give up now!_' He mentally scolded himself. Then , across the street , he saw her . She wasn't running , but she was soaked all the way through . Apart from the fact that it was a white blouse which clung to every single one of her curves , there was nothing wrong with her . Not physically .

From the way she walked , it seemed that her brown eyes was seeing nothing in front of them . It was the first time Ikki had ever seen Ringo like this . Her shoulders sagged , and her leg moved in an awkward manner. It was as if if she moved a step forward , she would be taking the wrong step . Yet if she had taken a step backwards , she would still be doing the same mistake. Ikki's eyes stayed fixated on Ringo , staring sadly at the girl .

'_You're hiding something from me aren't you, Ringo?_'He thought bitterly . He clenched his fists tight and walked straight ahead . "Why?" He said aloud . A small boy being pulled by his mother looked at him with big eyes and said to his mother "Okaasan, this Oniichan is talking to himself!!" quite loudly . His mother simply pulled the boy harder and scolded him , saying "You shouldn't say that!". Ikki kept walking , oblivious to their conversation .

The zebra-crossing turned green . Ikki looked at Ringo and walked , ignoring the cusses from the people he absent-mindedly pushed away . Ringo walked towards him , not seeing him or anyone . She just walked . Just when Ringo was about to pass Ikki , Ikki grabbed her by the wrist - hard . Ringo was immediately taken aback and started to fight back , but as her eyes met with Ikki's rigid face , she halted her actions . "Ikki.." She said quietly .

Ikki didn't say a word . He ignored her reply and started pulling her towards the direction Ringo was going towards , back to the apartment . His emotions was totally mixed up inside . He didn't know whether to be angry , jealous , comforting or any of it . Inside , he was simply glad that Ringo was with him . That he was there to protect her against all dangers. Yet there was a part of him feeling betrayed , and he knew he was right to feel so too . She was definitely hiding a secret . Ikki pulled her roughly and walked in bigger strides.

"Ikki, It hurts." Ringo said to Ikki. His ears were deaf to her pleas. "Ikki , it really hurts!Let go!" She said louder , Struggling to get out of his grip . But , As much as it hurts , she couldn't bring herself to wrench herself away from him. What right does she have to do that? In the end , Ringo simply let herself be pulled by Ikki. Ikki , realizing that Ringo had given up then started to walk slower . Very slowly , and uncertainly , his hand crept lower from her wrist to her hand .

Since it was raining , and there were lots of people , the two became easily crammed in the heavy stream of people . Her hand felt cold , tiny and fragile . But her hand gradually closed in around his hand warmly . It wasn't in a fashion where a sister holds the hand of a brother , neither was it meant to be friendly . Sometimes things like this were more than enough to deliver the strongest messages across.

They held hands silently and walked together quietly . _Why do I always hurt the one I love? _Ringo looked ahead and glanced towards Ikki. The way his will alone managed to get him through any fix was always beyond her imagination. How did he do it? What was missing in her that made her lack so much courage as to not be able to protect the _one_ man she loved?

"Ringo. Tell me whats on your mind." Ikki said, breaking the silence.

Her train of thoughts halted . "I.. I was just thinking..about.. about.." Ringo stuttered. "It's okay. But whats up with you keeping secrets from me? I thought I was your best friend" He sounded smug , but obviously , he was hurt. Ikki swung their hands lightly in the rain. It seems that the rain wasn't going to stop anytime soon.

If today was the last day, then.. "Ikki , Theres somewhere I need to go.. Will you come with me?" Ringo asked. She held onto his hand firmly , looked up and matched his gaze . His face read that he was astonished , but he shrugged and said "Why not."


	7. Chapter 7

The one thing that sets the Japanese apart from the rest of the world is that they are extremely ruthless when it comes to revenge. It not only applies to court cases , even the kindergarten kids knew the fine art of revenge. On top of the hierarchy is of course , the Yakuzas. They have been around for ages , with no sign of them dying away. Silent , slithering creatures who rule the famous "Land of the rising sun" behind the curtains. Trust me , even the cops stay away from these beasts.

When a person is blacklisted , theres only one answer. Death. It doesn't matter if they escaped , they would dig up every inch of the country and get them . No one ever escapes, not yet.

XXXXX

An elegant geisha enters a big room, lined with traditional sliding doors. Her perfectly made up hair didn't move an inch , even when she moved . Like any professional geisha , she bowed , moved without a sound towards her customer and sat down like the queen herself . From the looks of the middle aged man she was to serve today , she quickly deduced that he was a man of time and importance. Surrounding him were a couple of other similarly aged men , but they regarded the old man with an air of respect .

"Good evening , Sir" She greeted him softly . The old man was dressed in a dark green hakama traced with a gentle touch of light green bamboos . It was made out of silk. He merely nodded as a sign of acknowledgement . "May I pour you some tea , sir?" She asked again, which was answered yet again by a simple nod. As she poured , the men started to converse among themselves .

"This is ridiculous! What are our men doing out there? How hard is it for them to not be able to even catch an 18 year old girl anyway?" Says the first , he was seated on the furthest right of the old man. Then came the second "How could 20 men lose sight of one girl? Trained yakuzas my ass!"He was seated on the 3rd left . The geisha stopped pouring and offered the old man his tea with both hands.

He took a sip of his green tea before saying anything.

Another started to protest , but was silenced when the old man raised his hand . The man fell into an awkward silence and waited . "Noyamano Ringo. Do you know who she is?" He asked very calmly . "Shes a student of East High School . Also , one of our men , Itsuki is attending the same schoo-"Irrelevant , next." The old man gave him a piercing stare . The man fumbled around with his hands and continued "Ah , of course. She lives in a run-down- " She's the Thorn Queen." The old man cut him off mid sentence again, and put his cup gently on the table.

At that , the room fell into a long silence. The old man chuckled at his men's shocked expressions and said "Surprised?" He smiled serenely , but something about his smile suggested that he wasn't so serene after all. "Do you have any idea.." He closed his hand over the cup "Just how dangerous that woman is?" Tighter . The old man stopped smiling , and his eyes were slits , staring down his men . "DO YOU?" The cup broke.

"Sir , You're bleeding!" One man said . He quickly produces a handkerchief , but was waved away by the old man . "We must get her , no matter what. This organization depends on it" He stressed. The geisha quietly pulled a white cloth from under her sleeve , intricate with red strings . "Sir , it is unadvisable to let that wound be left untreated . Please , let me tend to it" Men are always open ears to a woman's offerings.

He gave her his bleeding right hand , and she expertly bandaged it like a professional .

"No matter what , we must get her before tonight. Or the willbe _hell_."

XX

Ringo and Ikki found themselves standing on top of a rock . A huge boulder that could easily pass of as a wannabe mountain that they used to sit on ever since they were little . The place provided comfort and a place to think . Even with the rain pouring down like buckets of water being splashed from the sky , they somehow found themselves standing there , looking over Tokyo.

The place that once felt stifling was far away . It felt nice to be away from those unknown crowd . Sometimes , its great to know that you still have a place to call home. Even if it's just an empty wooden shack , it was once a place where you had lived . A home is where you shelter from the outside danger , that is if you are oblivious to the one living right under the same roof. They went down when it became unbearable to stand the rain and headed straight for home sweet home .

Soaking wet , doors locked and an opened balcony , both of them managed to creep back into their home . Ever since the tournament started , no one stayed home . Each to his own . The girls to their group , Sleeping Forest and Ikki , Kogarasumaru . Somehow , none of them found it odd that the family wasn't together all of a sudden . Maybe they realised , but was too terrified to bring the subject up. Afraid to find out about things they would rather have kept unknown .

Ringo slipped into the bathroom and flicked the lights on . The bathroom lights didn't turn on , and the room was dark as it is . Besides , she did have some encounter with strange objects inside that particular bathroom ever since she was old enough to remember . "Damn" She mumbled , but continued to undress anyway and chucking her wet clothes on the floor.

Ikki waited outside with a towel over his head and another wrapping his body . Wet from head to toe , he too was in need of a shower . The house felt empty , different than the time when the family was together . Flashbacks began playing at the back of his mind without him noticing . Somewhere in the corner of the house , he could imagine Rika cooking a hot meal with a smile on her face . Then there was Mikan , always with her brave , tomboyish ways . The little squirt , Ume sitting quietly , making another complicated masterpiece . He missed them terribly .

The rain outside continued pouring , and however many times he tried , the house electricity just simply wouldn't work . Rika-Nee probably had this all planned out from the get-go. The more he thought about it , the more everything started to make sense . He wasn't oblivious to the fact that all four sisters were excellent skaters , but for them to be apart of something _bigger_ was beyond his wildest imagination. The image of a little girl kicking the crap out of a grown up man was hard to ignore . When Ringo tried keeping the reason hidden from him , his suspicions were confirmed .

Ikki mulled over that thought , and could only come to one conclusion . The only AT group who were fierce and strong enough to threaten the Yakuzas were The Sleeping Forest. Some thought them as legends , but to the Yakuzas, those riders prove to be a pain in the neck . Mainly , these two groups have nothing to begrudge against . However , after the group began building concrete bases all over Japan did they feel the need to fight for their share of power . Now, most of the people who had been blacklisted had either been politicians or top guns in the industry . But the recent name which cropped up ; Noyamano Ringo was on an entirely different scale.

She wasn't someone significant to the nation , neither was she involved in politics . But she was ordered to be exterminated . To him , that was the biggest clue as to the unknown reason which Ringo was carefully protecting .

A lightning flashed in the sky.

Ringo who was washing the remaining suds off her body let out a scream. Ironically , for a woman who was usually used to facing even the toughest and meanest gangsters , the one thing which terrified her the most was a couple of charged electrons . Ikki jolted from his train of thoughts and looked towards the bathroom door , worried . "Ringo , are you alright?" He said.

No reply . "Ringo! Say something , are you alright?" He said , a little louder this time . From inside , he could faintly hear Ringo quietly sobbing over the splashing of water from the shower. In a frantic attempt , he pushed open the sliding door . It opened , funnily enough. _She didn't even bother locking the door , silly girl_

He walked across her pile of clothes and walked towards Ringo who had completely shrunk to a corner of the wet , tiled bathroom . She had both hands folding herself into an even tinier form than she originally was . To a predator , this prey was the easiest . It was simply laying like a fish , ready to be scaled. Ikki shook those thoughts away quickly turned the shower off and threw his towel over her , covering her naked body .

"Shh, Its alright" He whispered to her as she cringed at another lightning . He placed one hand on her back and another below her legs and carried her towards the bedroom. Her hands clawed on his back , afraid to let go . It has always been like this , but now that they were older and in a situation as dire as this that other priorities presented themselves in such a form . He pushed open the sliding door to Ringo's room with his right foot and walked inside , inhaling her scent .

He was about to lay her down on the bed when she suddenly pulled him tighter. "Don't go. I'm scared" She muttered in the crook of his neck . Ikki couldn't say anything and stared at the curve of her back . It was perfectly strong and sensous in every way imaginable . "Uhh , We might get a cold.." He said , but instead of letting go , he wrapped his arms around her and held her close . "We might." She agreed, breathing calmly .

He pulled her tighter , as if this was the last . and felt her do the same . The questions that had been gnawing at the back of his mind cleared completely as if a storm just passed through it , making everything calm . He felt comfortable and secure with her holding him on to her . Ikki pulled away and looked into Ringo's brown eyes . Nothing else seemed to move , nothing else in the world mattered at that moment .

Gently , he held her face with one hand stroking her cheek lovingly , bent down and kissed her.


	8. Chapter 8

3:30 P.M

Agito paced on the ledge of Kazu's rooftop , trying hard not to choke on curse words . Two days and there was still no news from Ikki . 'So far so good' He thought , but that was yesterday . Now , with the rain coming down like it never did before , with the haze covering half the town , there was something in his guts that told him that something is not right . Instincts are a human's most powerful weapon , but most of the time , they just slip the mind .

"Fuck." He cursed , and jumped into Kazu's room where the entire Kogarasumaru was assembled . Kazu was staring out the window with one leg propped up , not saying anything . He was biting his lower lip , and for a person like Kazu to not be saying more than he did was terrifying . The fan , turned on at the minimum speed felt like an aircond at -1 degree .

'Why the hell hasn't he called?' He thought worriedly . Those Yakuzas Ikki worked for are mean thugs who won't stop short to re-think the decisions they make . They simply kill for the fun of it. Once Ikki made that choice to save Ringo 3 days ago , his name had came up on top instead . The news buzzed around like wild bees . Now , the entire Kogarasumaru couldn't sit still . Unknowingly , everyone in the room had stopped talking and focused to the hazy sky outside.

That was until Agito broke the silence "Fuck , Don't just stay quiet like a bunch of morons!" He said , glaring at the broken team . Onigiri shifted uncomfortably "Ikki hasn't contacted any one of us in the past 2 days" He said. Buccha nodded and replied "Yeah , I'm sure he would want us to wait for his call". Agito grunted "And if he gets caught? I suppose lending a phone would be the last thing those bloody yakuza's would think of giving to Ikki!" They felt the tension grow slowly . Kazu still hadn't spoken a word .

"Damn fuck Kazu , Don't stone on us now of all times!" Agito bellowed , annoyed . Kazu ignored him , looking out the window . Then , he spoke "Ikki is alive out there , I know it . But whatever he's deciding right now.. I know hes doing it to keep us at bay. To protect us , and not drag us into his problem. That's typical of him." Kazu's eyes was a little moist , but his face was cleverly hidden from the rest of the group .

"We have to trust him this time and figure this out ourselves. Kogarasumaru , get ready to roll out. Our Baby Face needs us" He finished his speech , and turned to look at the face of each and every single one of them .

It was as if a chicken had came into the room saying "I crossed the road today and no one asked why". They stared at him incredulously . Agito smiled '_Look whos back'_ . "Never knew those words could come out from your mouth" Onigiri mumbled . Buccha grinned "Osu!" and nodded in agreement . Kazu stood up and placed his hand in the middle , followed by the rest .

"KOGARASUMARU , KILL! KILL! KILL!"

XXXX

Aeon walked out of his car , looking posh and sharp . His grey suit complemented his tall height , making him appear urban cool . At a signal , the driver nodded and drove away . The guard opened the door for him , letting him into the tall apartment . Pressing the highest level of the elevator button , he then stood in the elevator and waited for it to take him up to the 33rd floor.

It had been an extremely long day . Not only did he have to deal with three pesky debtors who simply refused to make do with the terms he had carefully planned for the past 3 nights , he also had a chewing gum stuck to the bottom of his Prada . Now that , was the epitome of a fashion mishap. He was considering whether or not to have the shoe thrown , but considering the price he paid to obtain them , he decided otherwise .

Then , the elevator opened .

The first thought that crossed his mind was _'Why the hell is my door OPEN?' _Aeon crinkled his forehead , walking cautiously to the door. But that wasn't the worst part . The thing was , he hadn't expected to come home to a raided apartment , yet that was exactly what he got . As soon as his eyes could reach the front door , He knew they were as good as dead . The words 'Die Pigs Die' Were carved messily on the wall beside it , as the door was made out of metal . There was a note attached to pin , he ripped it from the wall in controlled fury.

"Hand over Noyamano Ringo and Minami Itsuki – Or Die" was written quite professionally on the piece of paper . I guess Yakuza's have evolved after all . "Damnit!" Aeon threw the paper to the ground and dialled the security . Afterwards , he went into his penthouse carefully . His mind went to a ballistic state looking at his apartment strewn askew . Glass shatters lay on the ground in a thousand directions , the carpet wet and the cupboards turned upside down . Even the leather couches were ripped . "Ikki, Where is HE?" He said to himself.

"Ikki-sama! Where are you?" He called out , pushing doors open , Searching frantically . Empty bedrooms , Ringo too , was absent . Moments later , the security arrived. Much to their amazement , the CCTV wasn't able to capture a single footage of the Yakuza's. To make it weirder , the building was highly guarded . For it to be so easy for these Yakuza's to simply barge in took the team by complete surprise . They apologized profusely , promising a full compensation . But to Aeon who wasn't quite listening , that wasn't important .

He flipped open his cellphone for the hundredth time , trying to get to Ikki but to no avail . Either the rain was blocking the signal , or he had turned off his phone . Or the endless possibility that he might have gotten caught was just as possible . Either way , things weren't looking too good . If the Yakuzas could get as far as his apartment , without being detected , that was already a huge warning . Aeon rubbed his temples in frustration .

Then , just as he was about to throw his hands up and give up , he remembered Kazu . 'Why didn't I think of that earlier?' He thought , annoyed at the his sluggish brain . Without hesitation , his fingers quickly found Kazu's number and dialled . It didn't take long for him to answer the phone . " Aeon man , whats up?" Kazu answered . "Listen Kazu , I've been trying to get to Ikki all day. Where the hell is he?" Aeon asked , hoping for an answer . "What , you don't know either? Don't ask us , we've been kept in the dark for almost 2 days ." He said , annoyed and worried at the same time . Aeon paused , and thought up of the best possible solution . "Alright , I've got it. Lets meet up at the Trophaeum Tower. We'll figure things out once we get there. I'll meet you in 3 hours." Aeon said . "Osu" Kazu ended the conversation .

_So hes not with them either . _

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Ikki kissed Ringo on the lips , full . He pulled back to look at her face , she stared back into his eyes and let her head drop onto his shoulders gently . "I thought we were just childhood friends?" She asked softly . Ikki leaned his head onto hers and said "Childhood friends don't do this, Ringo" He said .

Then , he gently pushed her down onto the bed. The late evening sun as their witness and the rain coming down with a ragged beat, it was the beginning and ending to something. Both knew it, yet Ikki and Ringo willingly surrendered themselves to the moment.

He touched her , gently , carefully . Careful not to hurt her and she did so too. Her long fingers stroking his hard muscles , traced his bones from top to bottom . Even when their eyes were closed , heart thumping wildly in their chests , they knew this was where they belonged . Together , the storm and the rose finally intertwined . A hurricane of roses was born , and it wasn't going to die down.

Then for a moment , Ringo stopped to think . Her mind wheeled and tears formed in her eyes _'Why am I doing this?_' She thought. At the sudden thought , a tear fell and Ikki froze . "What's wrong?" He cupped her face and looked at her apologetically . Ringo looked him in the eye and stared. Those amazing brown eyes that have never lied to her , looked out for her stared back at her lovingly. "Ringo?" He asked again , softly.

She smiled and drew his face down to kiss him again . His lips met hers with a powerful force of wanting . "I love you" He drew his face away from hers and simply smiled . The rain outside continued pouring , along with thunders . This time , she wasn't scared . This man whom she trusts indefinitely is with her right now , loving her in ways she had never felt before . He then bent down and kissed her again , this time with more passion than before , probing her mouth with his tongue until she relented .

_I know , maybe what I'm doing is wrong.. But right now , I don't care. I don't care._

They made love till their bodies fused together , and until their bones grew dry . Annihilation can wait .


	9. Chapter 9

Aeon quickly slipped into the church. Hes a man on a mission tonight, not even a hurricane will stop him. Further ahead, he sees 4 figures of very different sized men. They too had the same expression as he did. When he finally reached them, they turned to look at him. "So, Where is Ikki?" Aeon asked. All of them shook their heads at once. "What about Ringo?" He asked again. "We don't know. Fuck !" Agito answered.

"The Yakuzas raided my place just now" Aeon twirled the ring on his middle finger cooly , stealing a glance at their faces. Kazu stared at him agape. The tension inside the chapel grew tighter as each of them looked at Aeon with equally shocked faces. "Yeah.. Stop staring. Start thinking." Aeon said, snapping them out of their trance. "Wait, If they could get as far as Aeon's place.. But how?" Kazu asked .

"Just so if you children aren't fully aware, Ringo is the Thorn Queen." Aeon stated an an as-a-matter-of-fact tone to the delirious faces surrounding him . Agito was the only one unfazed. "WHAT?" All of them shouted , except Agito. Then, they turned to look at Agito who was smirking quietly by himself . "You knew?" Kazu said , feeling pretty dumb . "For a while now" Agito replied steadily .

"So what does Ringo being the Thorn Queen has anything to do with this?" Buccha interjected . Aeon thought about it for a while before answering " My apartment is one of the most highly guarded places in the Tokyo , and for it to be raided to easily.. its almost too good to be true." He paused " Though of course , the Yakuzas might know a fair bit about security" Glancing at Agito and Kazu.

"You think we did this?" Kazu exploded , standing up from the bench . Aeon held up both hands " Woah , relax tiger. Don't get too far ahead. I'm saying , maybe there was an intel among us." Kazu relaxed , but his faced contorted . "But who-" He stopped halfway , realizing . However , Buccha and Onigiri's brains didn't catch up fast enough "Huh , who? What're you talking about?" They asked , simultaneously .

"Ringo." Kazu looked at Aeon dead in the eyes "Am I right?" His face hardened. The windows reflected the dark clouds gathered outside , again. Slowly , Buccha and Onigiri looked at each other , refusing to believe it. "Yes, Noyamano Ringo." Kazu answered. The 4 boys let this thought sink in deep before feeling the frustration build up in their veins. As far as anyone had in mind , Its only her , Sweet and Careless Ringo. This was a new revelation.

"This doesn't make sense. Why would she betray Ikki? She loves him.."Kazu whispered to himself , aloud. "I mean , shes not from the Organization. I know that much, but what.." He questioned. "Sleeping Forest." Agito answered. "Shes the ring leader after all. The lesser the enemy , the better" He replied , rolling his eyes. Even though things started making sense , it still didn't provide them a solution to this tangled mess they were all in .

_Maybe it would've been better to eliminate her after all.._

Maybes , Buts or Ifs never give an answer . They simply complicate things further by working the Brain onto overload. Why that thought even crossed his mind , Kazu didn't know. But one thing for sure , he deserved a well practised slap on the face for even having such horrendous thoughts in the first place. The good news is , he wasn't the only one .

The rain continued to pour , as if someone was throwing buckets of water . How could Japan weather be so "accommodative" at a time like this? The statue of Jesus on a cross hung solemnly on the wall , looking upon them . His face was covered by shadows , joining the bleakness of the situation . Kill a friend for a friend , that sounds easy if you're not the one doing it.

Most fear of heights . Dropping head first onto the hard solid ground isn't exactly the most ideal way to end a life , nor is it worth the risk when you're standing hundreds of feet above ground . But why do these riders have such unchallenged bravery ? There must be something differentiating them from the average norm.

Freedom. Yes , the feeling of freedom. None of the normal daily chores weighing on them , just living life in the moment itself . This is exactly why Angels can fly ; because they have no burdens. Feeling alive by rushing through air , slicing through wind , feeling the force of nature firsthand. Flying in the sky , just how Superman would. Except without the tights or the gay hairstyle , probably , but close. So close.

Everyone wants it , but they would only go to a certain extent . Never pushing themselves beyond their normal capabilities , afraid of stepping out of their comfort zones. The thing about humans is that once the fear sets in , it never leaves . Once it stays , it breeds and continues to do so till the day you rot. All it takes is for them to pluck some courage and some balls to take off into the broad sky.

Looking at the dark clouds of the night , the busy streets down below , brimming with life and activity , a clump of people gathered on the rooftop of The National Library . Overlooking the city , the library was underappreciated , old and magestically huge. It homes the national treasures of history , wonders and a lifetime of adventures . All hidden behind the leafs of a book. They stood there waiting .

A broad shouldered , muscled man sat silently in the middle . His intimidating gaze made it so that nobody dared to look at him straight in the eye . The perfect leader , respected and feared at the same time . The blades he wore were by far , the meanest looking one among the rest of the air trecks . Black as the darkest pits of the night , sleek and sharp . Just as the rider .

The man taped on the base of his wrists , and a girl wearing a dark leather suit came forth . "12:03" She answered. "Hmm.. We don't like late-comers. Someone should go get her" He turned to look at her , to which she nodded to before jumping off the building .

"Late-comers must be punished.." The man whispered to himself , smiling slyly.

It didn't take long for the girl to track Ringo.

Midnight , and everything is quiet . The girl turned towards her lover for a closer inspection. His heavily shut eyelids prove that he was indeed in deep sleep. Carefully , she removed his arms that were draped protectively across her waist . Next , she gently rolled off the bed , got dressed and reached for a piece of paper and pen. The letter wasn't long , but it contained every sincerity she had for him . '_Please , please.. Forgive me._' She thought , turning to look back to Ikki's sleeping form. Then , Without another doubt , she closed the door and left.

Ringo gulped hard , trying not to cry. She would rather be in the comfort and warmth of Ikki , but ..maybe they were just not meant to be. "So , This was where you were." Came a voice . Ringo turned around abruptly , glaring. "You were here the whole time?" Ringo snarled. "No need to get defensive. Fraternizing with the enemy? What were you thinking?" The girl continued . "Oh wait , you weren't , were you?" She laughed sinisterly . Ringo felt like taking a hurl at the bitch, but firmly kept her head in place . Ignoring her , she walked ahead.

"Nikes been waiting. In fact , everyone has been waiting. You're going to be in a lot of trouble!" The girl kept going , with an innocent sing-song tone. They both knew better , and that meant that her head was probably as safe as a chicken in a lion's den.

Ringo simply kept on walking.

Every footstep , breathe she took , he heard it well. The person who left the left side of the bed had made the bed half-empty , as his heart is currently . Ikki sighed alone , staring at the ceiling. The lies was painful enough , and now it seems that its about to be torn into pieces. His head turned to the bedside table , on which a note was left . His hand lazily reached out and took the paper , resting it on his chest. _Do I read this or not?_

Shaking out other thoughts in mind , he sat up and read the letter.

_Dear Ikki ,_

_The engine is the heart of an airplane, but the pilot is its soul. ~Walter Raleigh_

_Ever heard of this quote? I've always thought that flying was supposed to be about being free. But now , It feels like there are chains on my feet . Everything feels heavy. You must be wondering , or you may have already figured it out. Somehow , you have always been two steps ahead of me. _

_I want to be free, away from the burden of responsibilities that come with this wretched ATs. _

_I am the leader of Sleeping Forest , the main reason that I'm blacklisted on your organisation's list. We're protecting a heritage , so please understand when I say that NO ONE should come in contact with the Sky regalia. If it comes down to it , I would rather die than have it slip into the wrong hands. _

_I'm sorry I lied ,for not telling you any of these things all this time , But please don't hate me. _

_ I love you,_

_ Ringo_

Ikki blanked out , staring at the letter . Thoughts ran through his mind like bolts of electricity in a wire. They were so jumbled together he couldn't think straight at first , but eventually , his thoughts slowed down . Then , he was able to really think . Pinching the bridge of his nose , thinking that it might help , he let out a frustrated huff. That totally did not help. It wasn't her fault altogether, it was simply a series of unfortunate events.

It wasn't her who chose the position. Yet , she took it on like a champion. The one thing he had been longing for , the Sky regalia existed . But the one thing that stood in his way was..

Life isn't fair. He quickly got dressed and pulled on his ATs. Reaching for his phone , he noticed that he had a total of 53 missed calls and 20 unread messages from Aeon , Kazu , Agito and basically everyone. '_Woah , What did I miss?_' He thought worriedly .

Folding Ringo's letter carefully , he flipped open his cell and dialled the first number he saw ; Kazu. Kazu answered even before the dial , "Where the hell are you man? We've been trying to get through to you!" His voice sounded annoyed and relieved at the same time. "Long story. I'll tell you when I see you. Where are you?"

Minutes later , Ikki made his way to the Kogarasumaru. They enveloped him in massive group hug , followed by head-bashing punches and kicks by the guys. Then, they were done re-uniting. "Ikki , where the hell have you been? I tried calling you. Look , theres something we need to tell you" Kazu started , sitting on the bench . All 5 faces turned towards Ikki. "What?" Kazu had that troubled look on his face , the one where there was something he really didn't want to tell Ikki. Ikki frowned "Kazu , spit it out"

"Its about Ringo."

Ikki let out a long sigh, looked aside and said "I know" . "You knew?" Came the muffled responses. '_A couple of minutes ago to be exact'_ He thought . "What're you gonna do about it, man?" "She's our.. enemy." At that , Ikki abruptly turned around and yelled "SHE'S NOT OUR ENEMY!" . "Then what is she?" Onigiri hurled a reply. Ikki stood up , chest out , fist ready by his sides . Aeon interfered "Hey guys , relax. That's not the issue here , there's another thing at hand." "What now?" Ikki said , annoyed.

"This." He turned his phone towards Ikki. It showed an online website for AT users , at which currently a huge gossip was going about . In red letterings , it said "Annihilation. National Library. 00:00" "How come we haven't heard of this before?" Kazu asked. "I suspect The Sleeping Forest had deviced an easier plan to get rid of the smaller insects by catching them off guard. Fuck! " Agito said , slightly disgusted. "So wait , if they're coming after us.. We'd better be prepared then" Ikki said. "And we'd need backup." Buccha chipped in.

"Call the girls, We're gonna be busy tonight." Ikki commanded. Cellphones were immediately flipped , and calls were made.

On the other side of town , Sleeping Forest were gathered on the roof of the National Library . They were anxious for the arrival of their Queen . Nike scanned the perimeter , and heard the rush of ATs coming from 200 metres away , whooshing by at maximum speed. Within seconds , Ringo arrived on the scene looking spotlessly clean . Her hair wasn't as ruffled as it should have been and she had an aura of a lioness as she arrived , an image fit for The Queen of Sleeping Forest. The rest of them immediately bowed and stood up properly , except Nike and Sora.

She waited for them to bow , but neither did. Ringo looked from one brother to the other , and found them looking back at her with dangerous , cold eyes. "Why aren't you bowing?" "We don't feel like it" They both answered at the same time, snickering. This particular act could very well destroy her reputation , after all , what is a Queen without her subjects. "Then , I'll make you" She hissed.

Crouching into position , she coiled her back muscles till they were tense. The air around seemed to grow colder , and now they could feel it prick against their bare skin. Without a moments hesitation , Nike suddenly launched his 6'5 build into her direction . Famous for her infinite flexibility , Ringo leapt into the air and easily evaded Nike's sharp ATs . Turning around , Ringo failed to notice that Nike had made a 360 degree turn midair and made a turn to grab Ringo by her shirt. "Let me go!" She screamed , grabbing his hands.

The rest of the people gathered on the rooftop were too dumbfounded and powerless to be of any use. They stared helplessly as they saw their Queen thrown down to the ground like a rag doll , creating a huge rubble of concrete. She tried wriggle out , but his heavy weight dragged her down even further. Nike took this chance to punch her in the face . It was like being trapped in quicksand , the more you struggle , the more you sink. "This is not funny" She spat . "It is! The Thorn Queen is down!" Nike said , laughing like a maniac . Sora , joining his brother , laughed as well. But only for a moment , as he immediately turned around to face the rest.

"Now , you can either choose to follow me or not to . Its fine ." He scanned the area for signs of hesitation. A meek boy raised his hand slowly , uncertain. "May I.. leave?" He asked. Sora took a while before answering "Why not! Good! I won't be forcing anyone to stay." He answered. "Re-really! Thank you!" The boy exclaimed , happy to be let off. Just as he was about to leave , Sora called out to him "That is.. if you can escape her" He smiled sinisterly, beckoning at a bandaged girl dressed in white. In her hands was an axe. "Starting.. now"

He didn't even last 3 seconds , and his head came off in a blink of an eye. The decapitated head stayed there on the ground , with the boy's eyes opened wide in horror. There wasn't even a sound , as everyone were in too much of a shock to understand what just happened. But when it did , no one dared to say one more word. Sora turned to look at Ringo , who stared in mixed horror and disgust at the carcass of the dead boy. "You MONST-" Even before she finished her sentence , Nike smashed her head against the wall , bleeding her temples as well as knocking her unconscious. Her bruised little body laid beneath Nike , limp.


	10. Chapter 10

DISCLAIMER : Air gear is not mine.

Nike and Sora eyed the team members calmly . This time , there was no uncertainty , only fear and a resolute mind . There was no turning back in this game , once the dice has been rolled , they were done for. "Okay! Now that that's done .." Nike started , rather joyfully "We can get on with our main agenda. You Wanna do the honours , bro?" He turned towards Sora with a nod.

Sora smirked "Thanks." With ease , he turned the wheelchair to face the rest of the troopers. He took a few seconds , scanning the crowd before he confidently began "Tonight , as you all know , will be the annihilation. To reach the top , we will need to rid of the.. insects along the way . So , All of you will be divided into groups and will be assigned to specific divisional leaders. The leaders will report back to me if any complications were to arise. That's it. Alright , now get to work." He waved them off with a yawn, as if he wasn't even interested in what he had to say.

He didn't bother turning towards Nike and said "From here on out , its gonna be real fun".

The boys were busy. Busier than they had ever been their entire lives , planning , calling , assembling. Agito and Buccha were busy prepping the team to prepare for battle while Kazu were equally occupied as well , dividing AT teams to respective Tool Toul To members. If the situation was as dire as they thought it was , they had better prepare for this unexpected battle if they wanted to have another chance seeing the light of day ever again. Onigiri on the other hand , was sitting quietly at the corner of the church , in deep thoughts.

'I know I'm the weakest link in the group , but I had no idea they were this far ahead..' He thought sadly , staring at the floor. All he knew was women and their assets . Butts and boobs made his world go round , what else could a mere high teenage hormone driven male do? No one had paid him any attention anyway , Onigiri sighed internally , disappointed.

'Maybe if I stayed out of this .. It'll be better for the team' Onigiri looked at the rest of the team . They were all occupied with their respective tasks. Then as if nothing happened , he slipped out of the church . He continued walking out , then turned back to look at the church , just in case anyone called for him. But no one did . In fact , no one noticed. There was only one sensible thing to do , and that was to head to home.

The roads were reasonably noisy at 12:30 . The crowd didn't let up either, it was still humid and lighted with neon lights as well as a constant blanket of noise. 'What would Ikki think? He would be pissed . Man , He'd beat the crap out of me" He scrunched his face at the thought of that. Suddenly , he saw it .An angel from his deepest desires , Ikki was immediately forgotten. A replica straight out of the porn videos he surfed , standing right before him .

Not only did she wear the mini skirt laced with frills that he dearly adored , she was also positively braless. That was all the incentive he needed to follow her when she smiled and turned to walk in the opposite direction. The way her beautiful hip swayed from side to side vaguely reminded him of the calm waves of the sea in Bali. She continued walking , and he continued following although he hadn't the slightest clue where he was headed to. They were in front of an arcade when she stopped , turned to look at him , smiled again and entered the store. Somehow , her stride became even more confident and swift which made Onigiri confused , and yet excited. She went up a flight of stairs , and this made Onigiri nearly die . What of the beautiful view he was blessed with , the sight of her ass as she made her way up the stairs that is.

He made a silent vow to make more rounds to the temple. 'Thank you, Buddha.'

Seconds after the delightful event , she opened a door . It revealed a room which was surrounded with people , most of them were suited up , some were halfway undressed with the help of prostitutes but all in all , the atmosphere of the club was positively high-class. Music was blasting away from the speakers , it seemed that the place was an exclusive nightclub. With a sparkly clean bar and properly dressed waiters , Onigiri became all too aware of his inappropriate attire. Especially his torn , but immaculate white shoes. At a hand signal , he went up another flight of stairs before a door. This time she looked at him with a stern expression and spoke "Please come inside, and behave."

The door opened , and there was a glass table. That was the first thing he notices as first , it was huge and second , it was lined with crystals. The man who sat behind was only a scrawny looking man , he looked harmless. That is until he noticed his two very intimidating bodyguards standing steadily beside him , arms the size of a tree trunk. The man wore an old fashioned sunglass , he was probably in his 40s . He dressed in plain black tees , topped with a sharp coat . 'Good style' Onigiri thought randomly. Also , he was folding paper planes. Something about the man vaguely reminds him of Ikki.

"Hello , Onigiri. You must be wondering why you're here." The man chuckled slightly , the tone of his voice sounding perfectly calm. Onigiri shifted from one foot to the other , nodding dumbly. "You're Ikki's friend aren't you?" He smiled . He nodded once again. "Hmm , then you should already know about this. His organisation is out to kill him , they're coming tonight. Both him and that girl." None of these made sense to Onigiri. _What organisation?_

His expression must have given him away , "You have no idea do you?" The man asked. Onigiri finally spoke for the first time "Wha-What organisation are you talking about? Anyway , who are you ? And why are you telling me this?" He tried to sound brave , but his voice came out worse than Justin Bieber's voice did in Baby. The man sighed , patiently. "Well , I don't have much time. You need to tell this to Ikki. Luna, you can fill him in on the way. Take some men with you, you'll be needing them" The man addressed the cute girl he had been stalking , and he turned to look at her again. _Ah , her name is Luna._

"Alright , off you go." The man smiled yet again , but this time he lifted his glasses , allowing Onigiri to catch a glimpse of his face. Just as he was ushered to the door , he turned around and asked "May I ask for your name?" Though to be honest , he had already formed an opinion of his own . He simply wanted him to confirm his thoughts. "They call me Dr.M". With that , he shot the paper plane across the room , it flew well until it hit the wall. There was definitely something to this man , he just couldn't put a finger on it.

Before he knew it , he was being dragged away. As they filled out , more men started to join in from everywhere. By the time they were out onto the streets , it seemed that a group of black leather jacketed men of 30 or so had formed behind him. They seemed pretty tough , so as to avoid peeing in his pants , he concentrated on Luna instead. She lead the group , filling in missing information that Onigiri needed to know. Apparently , The rest of his group members were involved with the Yakuzas, except him . More importantly , Ikki's head is worth 10 million yen.

However , the shocker was that Ringo's head was worth 100 times more.

It was dark. The place was like a huge minefield , deserted and dangerous. Ringo was in nothing but a white dress , standing right in the middle. The sky above was painted a bleak yellow and grey , although there was no indication of rain. She walked ahead , oblivious to the danger that lay ahead . The ground was covered with patches of earth that had been dug , leaving an ugly perimeter ahead.

The place was endless . It was the same for as far as the eye could reach , her feet covered with dirt . Suddenly , she saw a figure at the furthest end of the spot she was standing at. There was a woman who seemed to be waving at her . The closer she walked towards the woman , the clearer was the image. Her long auburn hair and strong figure stood firmly , waiting. Then , she puts up a hand as if saying 'stop right there'. Ringo stopped moving

The woman then pointed to the ground , and Ringo then realized that there was a bomb just a feet ahead. The wire very much alive , calling to be detonated. To her absent eyes , she saw nothing. But then , she saw a small boy suddenly coming up to the woman , tugging on the woman's hand. He had spiky black hair. Then , she bent down and whispered something into the boy's ears , to which he nodded . He proceeded to kiss her on the cheeks and trotted happily towards Ringo.

Ringo wanted to scream , to tell the boy to stop moving .But nothing happened . Not one bomb was set off. He jogged happily towards Ringo and looked up at her with his big , brown eyes. "That lady said you're going in the wrong way" He grinned sweetly towards Ringo. He then took her hand and led her in the opposite direction , Ringo couldn't say anything and followed the boy. She turned around, but the woman was gone.

_Gasp_

Ringo woke up to the splash of cold water drowned onto her face. It was none other than Nike who did so , evident from the pail he casually threw onto the ground a second later. The man towered over her , laughing obsecenely. She tried to scream , but found that she couldn't. The next thing that hit her wasn't water , but rather a sharp throb pulsating in her head. She tried to bring her hand to her forehead , but found that her hand had been tied. Nike laughed somemore.

;Just because she couldn't speak , that didn't mean that she couldn't mentally curse him.

_SON OF A BITCH!_

Ringo glared at him , boring holes into Nike's eyes. Her hair had gone astray , so did her mind. Temporarily. "Well , isn't this a pity? How the Queen is bound and tied , meat." He said with no remorse whatsoever. The man then sat comfortably in a chair that had been brought into the room. Ringo had no idea where she was currently. Her vision was getting blurry , and her head was not helping at all. There was blood on the ground , HER blood.

"Well , well. Our plan is going to be executed just fine because of you.." She had no idea what he was talking about. But as soon as Nike whipped out a cellphone , followed by a click , Ringo had a clue. "Technology nowadays certainly are very accommodating. Send to Minami Itsuki" He pressed a button "Sent." Ringo couldn't believe what she was hearing. He was planning to use her as a bait to lure Ikki into their trap! "Now all I've got to do is wait for the hero to come" His voice blurred into the distance , so did her vision. The last thing she thought before the darkness took over completely was '_Ikki.. Please don't come'_

The night was getting restless , just like the team. Not only Kogarasumaru and Tool Toul Too was assembled , but other teams he had battled as well. The Bulls , Sabeltiger and many more. Even the Four Saint Beasts were present (Bandou , Ryou , Sano , Fuumei). All in all , it was a noisy bunch. The church which was supposedly a place for serenity and serendipity , it was now filled with both believers and non believers.

_I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work -__Thomas Alva Edison_

Ikki had came across the quote once when he overheard a pick-pocket getting carried away by the cops yelling it at the top of his lungs. The man proved his point , but it was quite tragic to see him getting dragged downtown. He stood against the wall, looking out at the sky. There wasn't even a single cloud in sight. Then , he felt a vibration from his cellphone. His reached for his phone and took it out. For some reason , he had a bad feeling about it.

_One new message_

He pressed open . The rest of the world seemed to be in a standstill. That girl in the picture cannot be the girl he was with just an hour ago. She was very much alive and vibrant , unlike the girl in the picture. But however many times he denied it , he still couldn't make himself believe that the girl in the picture was Ringo. Blood was dripping from her head , and she was firmly tied up to the wall. It didn't look too good. _Whats going on?_

The message that came with it : Be at the National Library in an hour or she'll be dead – Nike.

Ikki's fingers gripped the cellphone , controlling his building fury. He could feel it now. His head slowly losing reason seeing his woman in such an ugly state . His eyes no longer seeing anything else but revenge. One way or the other , he knew that this was a trap and he'd be damned if he followed exactly what Nike wanted. But the stakes were too high , and he didn't have the balls to gamble on her life.

"Kazu! They've got her. Ringo" Ikki said as he marched towards his friend. Kazu looked up , distraught . He had been in the middle of a battle plan. "What? What do you mean they've got Ringo? That doesn't make any sense.. She's part of them." He replied, looking at Ikki with a pair of confused blue eyes. "Here" Ikki said , handing Kazu his phone. He flipped open the cellphone and his eyes grew large , obviously bewildered as well. "What the hell?" was all he could manage.

By this time the rest of the group had taken notice of the pair's sudden distress . They shuffled over , wanting to take a look at the picture themselves. By the time everyone had a good look , everyone had an equally disorientated look . Ikki spoke before anyone could ask another question "Nike is using Ringo to trap me.. But I can't let him kill Ringo.. I'm going to go save her." No one said a word , they simply looked at each other with the same question hanging on the back of their mind. _Is he crazy?_

Ikki gripped his fists tighter . He spoke through clenched teeth "You guys are all fucking hypocrites. One week ago , she was your friend. She was the one who helped you guys when you were down in a shithole.. Heck , She never even blinked when it came right down to saving your sorry little asscracks. And this is the shit you give her?" He exhaled slowly. "Forget it. I'll go save her , alone." Ikki turned around , and the rest scrambled to get out of his way.

"Wait.." Kazu exhaled a sigh. "Ikki! Damnit , wait!" . Ikki had already walked ten steps ahead , his hair looking wild against the light. The image of his back leaving was something Kazu had grown so accustomed to , but that didn't mean that he had to put up with it again this time.

Running casually , he grabbed Ikki's shoulders and yanked them hard . "HEY! Geez man. I haven't even said anything.." Kazu looked straight into Ikki's eyes , trying to measuring his anger level. One look and he decided not to push it . " Fuck you. If you're not going to help then just fuck off." Ikki said , pushing Kazu's hands away harshly and continued walking. Kazu stood still , calming himself . "Ikki , wait up! I've something to say" He called out , but Ikki simply walked ahead .

Exasperated , Kazu ran ahead and stopped in front of Ikki , grabbing him by the collar. He was genuinely ticked off this time. "WHY DO YOU ALWAYS DO THIS? Pushing people away ..! I haven't even said anything and you're already walking away. Just listen to what I have to say!" Kazu shouted . That seemed to grab his attention and he stopped walking . Ikki didn't brush him off this time. "What I was going to say is that , whatever it is .. I'm with you. Haven't I always? You know that you can definitely count on me . We've been in deeper shit before , we can do this together." Kazu's tone softened and he smiled to his friend.

Ikki , stunned at Kazu's words , couldn't help but to smile too. "Yeah , I know. But when you hesitated just now.." "That's cause I was trying to come up with a plan" He grinned. Ikki laughed "Bastard." But his smile remained . "Okay then , let's go!"

Just as Ikki was about to walk out of the church , he heard footsteps coming towards the church . Under the pale moonlight , he could make out the shadows of a bunch of leather jeacketed men carrying weapons standing in front of the doorway. It wasn't very hard to tell that they were in fact , the Yakuzas. Leading them were Percival , wearing a sophisticated looking snakeskin jacket. He stopped and looked around the church "Too bad we'll have to stain this white church blood red"

Ikki glared at him "We don't have to." "But I want to. See , I can't wait to have your head on a silver platter Minami Itsuki." Percival sneered , licking his bottom lip. Ikki stood calmly "Well , bring it on. Don't blame me when your ugly face hits the ground later." With that , he walked three steps front , picked a piece of wood laying nearby and threw it towards Percival with the strength of a monster.

It barely missed Percival by an inch , but it hit the person behind. And that , ladies and gentleman , was 'KILL THEM!" in Yakuza terms.

The fat pig tried to catch up to the speed of Dr.M's men , but his legs were just not built for this. As a result , when he arrived at the scene , he witnessed a messy scene of men brawling against one another in an attempt to rip each other's anatomy off . More precisely , The Yakuzas were swinging their spiked bats around and the AT riders were playfully dodging it. The term playfully is used here because those yakuzas were a bunch of newbies who got dragged into their very first fight against a professional team of AT riders.

Just as Ikki was about to laugh out loud , Percival jumped back , took out a button and pressed a tempting-looking red button . In movies , the red button had always meant danger , or at the very least , threatening . At that , the "newbies" snapped up and stood straight . Then , their heads started shaking , followed by the rest of their bodies. If that wasn't disturbing enough , the skin on their face slowly teared , exposing a metal body beneath.

Everyone gulped."Shit."

Sorry I took so long to update! Got a little caught up with my uni assignments DX

Please review and tell me which parts you'd like me to improve on , thanks for reading! :)


	11. Hello

Hello readers

It is I , your AT freak of a writer. I have been a little busy with university lately. So I do apologise that it is taking me ages to update on the next chapter. Truth be told , I am sort of having a mini writer's block. So if you have any suggestions , that would be most helpful . I'll put your name in the credits ;)

Also, thank you for reading. It means a lot to me that someone appreciates this manga as much as I do.

P/S: Begone with Kururu. 100% rooting for Ikki X Ringo.

Love,

FarahAshTree


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer : Air Gear is not mine! Credits to Ogure Ito and his wonderful visions :)

The man couldn't sit. His custom made leather seat was getting uncomfortable. Everything was not going the way it usually does. The Boss _always_ wins. But tonight, a high school girl was about to prove that theory wrong. "Why the FUCK aren't they calling?" He shouted angrily, throwing an ash tray towards his assistant. The man dodged and cringed, apologising. Even though the room was air-conditioned at 16°C, cold sweat was already breaking from both men's forehead. Just as The Boss was going to rip his assistant's throat, his cellphone rang.

"Shinoda Kenichi." His voice was surprisingly calm for someone who had his hands on a person's throat.

"I've got her. Get the money ready." The other man replied, sounding smug. He slowly let go of his assistant, grinning widely. "Great. 100 million it is then." He put down his phone, laughing. "Now we've got you bitch."

**xxx**

"Shit"

Given the situation , forgive them for a less creative choice of adjectives. The storm riders stood , mouth nearly hanging wide . A clang of wood hitting the ground could be heard , but it faded into the background. The scene unfolded , like a nightmare came to life before their very eyes. Very slowly , the metals screwed and unscrewed themselves into shape. As the thin layer of epidermis ripped off , a silver metal emerged from beneath . The rest of the body twisted and turned in a dangerous way , and more skin fell to the ground. Then , just when they though the robots couldn't be intimidating enough to make them piss in their pants , the plastic eyes of each robot suddenly switched to red. With a shrieking beep , the robots assembled and said in the monotone robots have "At your command" .

Percival laughed gleefully. He even did a mad little dance all by himself , flailing his long limbs . "HAHAHA Fuck you bastards! You're all gonna be dead! These babies have a melting point of 626 °F , and your stupid ATs won't be able to create flames that'll reach that heat without burning yourselves. Those metals? They are 375% stronger than the best high tensile steel. You fuckers can consider this battle done. " He walked haughtily to the front , remote in hand. "I could finish you off with just a touch of this button.."

Ikki clenched his fist. "Enough with the cock shit. Lets just get this done and over with." Ikki stared him down , eyes unflinching. This battle was going down nice and dirty. Just then , He heard Onigiri's voice from afar. The rest of the crowd distracted by the sudden interruption managed to recollect their thoughts and straightened up . The pig wasn't alone. He had at least 30 men behind him , and a cute girl by his side. Ikki let that pass. "Ikki , I've brought help!" He yelled , waving madly. Of all the bloody times , he chose this very moment to be embarrassing. _I'll have his dick chopped by Rika herself once this is over_

The men behind Onigiri looked menacing , and professional. Their leather jackets was beautifully polished , with an emblem of a gold dragon on the back. However , Ikki couldn't trust a group of strangers to invade his battle . Not when he hadn't a clue who they were in the first place. Not seeming to realise the direness of the situation , Onigiri ran towards Ikki , panting. "TheseguysarefromDr.M" pants "Itsalrightwecantrustthem" More pants. Ikki hit him on the back of the head "One more time ." Onigiri coughed , took a breather and said "They're Dr.M's men. I have a feeling they're trustworthy" "And what makes you think I should trust them?" Ikki stared at the group of men.

Luna stepped in front , ignoring Percival and his army of robots completely . "Doctor M , You've met him once." And just before Ikki could ask any further , she produced a paper plane and swiftly threw it into the air . The paper place took flight smoothly and finally landed on his feet. Then , as if a memory snapped in his mind , he remembered. Ikki nodded , shook his shoulders and said "Don't think I'll thank you for this". Luna smirked and looked towards Percival , who was fuming all alone for being utterly ignored. Dr.M's men joined with the rest of Ikki's men.

"You're idiots. All of you. I have an army of robots. You're just a mesh of human meat. I won't let you win" His expression suddenly grew serious and dark. Onigiri put his hand on Ikki's shoulder and squeezed it gently. "We can do this man. You need to save Ringo. She needs you." Onigiri spoke calmly. "And what ,abandon you? Don't be crazy." Ikki shrugged Onigiri's hand off his shoulders. "I mean it. If you don't get there in an hour , Ringo WILL be dead. The only joy Nike and that demented brother has is seeing you with that fallen expression on your face. I'll join you shortly." He had never sounded more serious in his entire life.

Bandou nodded his head "I agree with the pig." . Followed by Inuyama of Rez Boa Dogs "Justice , my friend. Leave it to us". Before he even realised it , the rest of them had agreed in unison . Aeon solemnly stood by Ikki's side , not saying a word. But he too , nodded.

Just as Percival was about to press the button , commencing the attack , Ikki knew what Onigiri said was only the truth. "Then , I'll leave this to you." Ikki gritted his teeth. "Kazu , Agito , Buccha , Emily , Kururu , Nakayama .. You guys follow me." He turned around and casually walked away from the battle ground. "Where do you think you're going?" Percival said , ludicrously. "I've somewhere important to go to. The only regret I have is not being able to crush your ugly face myself."

He continued walking , followed by the rest of his gang. He obviously wouldn't let Ikki get away so easily , but found that his path was blocked by Onigiri. "Your opponent is me." Percival hastily pressed the button , and the robots began moving forward. Aeon made a swift call just as the robots began marching "Hey man, Come here. I could use some of your flames right about.. now!" The robot missed his head by 2 inches "Bastard , this had _better_ be good" The other male on the other line grunted.

As the jumble of mess began , Ikki broke into a run. Amidst the clanging and shouting of men ensued in hot blooded battle , All Ikki could think of was saving Ringo.

_Just wait Ringo , I'll be there._

Rika paced back and forth in her bedroom. Ringo was missing, and she knew just who might have the solution to her problem. Sora had been rather dodgy lately. He was never one to speak in riddles, but nowadays, he hardly utters a single word. He had been a gentle soul , but somehow rather , that man she knew had left the room. Or was it that he had been that way all along , and her not noticing? Rika stood up at a sudden knock on the door. _Maybe its Sora.._

Mikan and Ume stood at the doorway , looking anxious. "We've got something to tell you." They refused to move , eyes darting back and forth between the floor and Rika's feet. " Spit it out." Why won't they come in? Ume nudged Mikan's elbow with a scowl on her face. With a grumble , Mikan scratched the back of her head , shoved her hands into her pocket , but took it out a moment later and left it by her side. It didn't take much for Rika to tell that her sister was on edge. "What is it?" That was unlikely of Mikan , being nervous.

Mikan lifted her head "Ringo.. She's in deep , deep shit." The expression on Mikan's face was grave enough to confirm that she wasn't pulling her leg. If she was , well , lets just say as a Japanese , meat selection wasn't confined to animals. "Shes blacklisted for the Yakuzas" She began , as calmly as she possibly could. "Is that it? All of us are , Mikan. Seriously now?" Rika sounded annoyed. "Yeah , except WE don't have a 100 million yen bounty on our head." This time Mikan looked Rika square in the eyes.

"What?" Rika yelled , walking towards Mikan. "You had better not be joking!" "Take a look at this." Ume flipped out a portable laptop from her bag. The page showed an online portal for AT users , and the title blinking in red read "Annihilation". "Whats going on?" Rika searched both her sister's faces desperately. "Just read it. You won't like it though.." Mikan replied , sighing. Rika took the laptop from Ume and started reading.

Nk05ax : Thorn Queens been captured by Sora! Daaamn man , there goes the bounty!

MAYL33: 100 million yen .SIGH There goes..

Dickface: Well , its not like WE could've done shit.. Its the Thorn Queen we're talking about here.

Underneath was a picture of Ringo ,the same that had been sent to Ikki. The girl looked as good as dead. Rika steadied herself , mind furiously spinning. She couldn't believe what she just saw . _Why don't I know anything about this?_ Sora wouldn't do this to her, would he? Clearly , the live chat had proven otherwise. He had never mentioned of any annihilation before. Automatically , her head dropped into her hands. "Oh god , Ringo.."

Mikan rushed to her side , taking her hand and gently spoke "Listen, whatever it is those bastards planned.. He's dragged our sister into it. I won't let him get away with this." Ume nodded in agreement , brows furrowed . Rika bit her lower lip "And to think I trusted him.." her eyes began to prick with hot tears . "Fuck that piece of shit. I never liked him anyway. But right now , we need you to be strong." Rika stared at the wall, not responding. "This isn't your fault. How could you have known it?" Thats right , Love is blind. You never notice the flaws until you snap out of the dream.

Something inside cracked, like a glass mirror shattered into a thousand pieces. Rika knew then , there had been so many slip-ups , but she refused to believe her own instincts. Now, her own sister has to pay for it. The anger, hurt and frustration at Sora's betrayal was profound and deep , but she knew there was no turning back. Her eyes suddenly turned cold and steely "Leave that motherfucker to me."

After all , "Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, nor hell a fury like a woman scorned" (William Congreve)

**xxxx**

The night air felt wonderful . Kilik couldn't help but to take a smoke while looking down below . 3 sisters were out for revenge. Looks like theres going to be a party tonight. He was fully informed of Ringo's kidnapping as well as the 100 million yen bounty. Logically speaking, Kilik should be just as pissed. Strangely enough, he was sucking on his cigarette, chilling. Not a single care was given.

Kilik took another deep suck on his Nat Sherman and took out his phone , dialing a number. The number wasn't answered until the 5th dial , and there wasn't a sound until Kilik said the word

"Tits."

"Hello Kilik" The other man answered delightfully. Kilik smirked . The codeword certainly has an "interesting" ring to it. "Its going according to the plan. They're going after Sora." Kilik took that opportunity to take another suck . "Great, you have such a brilliant mind. Good man. Now keep an eye on them, tell me if anything else happens" The male voice sounded cheery and polite as he ended the conversation. Kilik kept the phone back in his pocket , cigarette in hand and looked at the city sprawled ahead of him.

There was someone who had been spying on him , and he knew it. He simple let him on just so that he could have the pleasure of trampling him later on. The little weasel. "Kanon , spying ain't cool." Kilik turned around to catch a blonde-headed boy fiercely glaring at him. His eyebrows were set together so closely they might have been mistaken for a monobrow from afar.

Kanon walked calmly towards him. His face betrayed none of his raging emotions . He stopped right in front of Kilik, trying hard not to punch him in the face. The expression on Kilik's face was so serene, as if nothing happened at all. "What the fuck was that about Kilik?" Kanon spat angrily. At first, Kilik's eyes were looking straight into his. The next moment, Kanon lost sight of him and a voice came from behind. He swallowed back his saliva, slowly.

"What you heard was exactly what you heard. But you don't even know who the hell he is. So the question is.. should I kill you?" Kilik's calm voice came from behind, and Kanon felt as if a wall of fear had built itself around him. This man is fast, and brilliant as well. Like a snake, dangerous and violent yet beautifully elegant. Kanon had to steady himself, not trusting his voice not to squeak . "Why.. are you doing this?" Kanon asked.

"It doesn't matter. I'm on the winning team anyway." Kilik inhaled on his cigarette. The night sky looked as beautiful as a dead corpse. Suddenly , Kanon felt the weight of the world on his chest . Ringo had specifically instructed him to report everything to her , even the tiniest detail. Even the things she didn't want to hear. "Ringo trusted you." Kanon said through gritted teeth. _ I did too_

"Of course she did. That was the whole plan." Kilik sidestepped , standing next to him . From afar, they looked like good friends having a chat. The aerial view was better, because you couldn't hear the painful truth. There wasn't such thing as loyalty in the world , unless you're a dog ,of course. "Then what were you planning to do? Kill everyone? You were in this with Sora from the beginning weren't you?" A hint of disgust could be heard clearly. Kilik merely scoffed.

"With him? Hell naw. That bastards going down." Kanon blinked, and looked at Kilik . Confusion was an understatement. Kilik smirked "Curious? You shouldn't be." He clicked his tongue "Curiousity kills the cat" _Well_, thought Kanon '_Death wouldn't be so bad. I kissed Ringo already_' Kilik was going for the kill when his phone rang again.

"Yes.. Alright. Will do." Kilik disengaged the conversation and turned towards Kanon. His expression didn't change. "You're one lucky kid. Ringo needs your can go" He sounded a little annoyed, obviously disappointed that his skills weren't allowed to be flexed tonight. Kanon turned around swiftly before a third call could ring " You're a fucking traitor." Kilik heard the whooshing of the air as Kanon jumped from the building to the building next to it.

His eyes strayed afar, cigarette in one hand . "Traitor, huh."

**xxxxx**

Ikki couldn't remember a single thing about his parents. Most children do, but not him. In truth , He rarely thought about the matter at all. But tonight, his mind wandered off in that uncovered track of his memories. Of all the times he thought about the topic, it had to be now. Somehow, running through the air in his ATs made him lose himself in the wind. The wind seemed to create a void in his mind and suck him into it. It didn't bother him. In fact, Ikki enjoyed the feeling of becoming one with the wind.

_Who was these people who abandoned me?_ He thought, almost grudgingly.

Kazu who ran steadily alongside Ikki, noticed the blank look on his friend's face. He had seen that face far too many times to wonder what was on his mind. Life is hard , but it seemed to take a special preference towards Ikki. Normal human beings have responsibilities , but his seemed to weigh a 1000 times heavier than anyone elses'. His mind started to wander by itself, remembering one of the many painful occurrences. The one day Ikki hated above all else, Open Day.

Other kids dreaded the day , anticipating their parent's reaction to their results. Every child would wait patiently as their parents came in and took them home. Kazu remembered the look on Ikki's face everytime another one of his classmates beamed happily at their respective parents. The hurt, abandoned kid who lives with an unmarried 22 year old. He couldn't understand it then , but now he did. Ikki felt ashamed and regretful, not only for himself, but for Rika-Nee as well. He had imposed so much upon her, pained her, and yet, she would never turn her back towards him.

That was, until the Gram Scale tournament started. Everything started to fall apart.

Kazu knew every single scar on him. He knew him better than Ikki knew himself. They were more than best friends, so every minor detail was never slipped between them both. Kazu suspected that there was something different about the way Ikki ran tonight. He wasn't sure of it minutes before , but if his calculations were correct , Ikki's speed had improved by 3.55 seconds per metre. Rage alone wouldn't have sufficed . It was something he had been born with , a talent only hidden in the genes. Or maybe, a slight change in his body structure..

_They didn't.._

Kazu's eyes widened . He glanced at Ikki who was still absorbed in his thoughts. "You lucky dog." He muttered .

They had been running for a while, following the direction on google maps. Just then , they saw the National Library 100 metres ahead of them. It was obvious that some sort of gathering was taking place on top of the building. Lights and bobs of heads could be seen. They were all marched together like a set of toy soldiers. Indeed, they were. Roughly , there would be 200 amateurs as the pawn. Only a handful would prove to be a challenge. However , the real threat would be those creepy looking girls and a couple of Sora and Nike's right-hand generals.

Even then , they were still outnumbered. There was only a handful of AT-riders and a couple of tuners. It would be a huge joke for them to attempt a frontal assault. Agito called out from behind "We can't go full throttle on them." All of them stopped running. Each person had the same look about them . A rage for revenge , clouded by a curtain of indecision and doubt. Agito turned to Ikki "Don't think I'm trying to hold you back. But honestly speaking, we'd be fucked even before we could reach the base" Ikki ran a thought calmly. Then he realized something didn't quite click together.

"Hey, The boss mentioned to me once ; Capture Ringo at all cost. Why? I figured that since shes the Thorn Queen that'd be reason enough for them to wring her out. But , Shouldn't Sleeping Forest be _protecting_ her?" Ikki said. Then, Kururu said quietly "It was just a rumour.. but now I guess it must be true." Everyone turned to look at the messy,pinned-haired girl. She looked up in alarm and bit her lip. "The rumours were going around that Nike and Sora were planning an overthrow. A Change in leadership.. They want the Sky Regalia for themselves".

The 4 boys glanced at each other. "We heard about that too, actually" Kazu replied. "The guys were talking about it, something about the boss making a deal with someone .He makes deals all the time.. but only with certain people.Y'know, those he can actually make use of." He finished. Agito who had been looking over at the crowd of soldiers on the other side suddenly tensed up. "They're sending a welcoming party."

The girls crowded towards the back. Kazu and Agito stepped up front, readying themselves for the incoming onslaught. 45 seconds later , 2 girls appeared in front of them. One was bandaged , while the other was dressed in leather. Either way, they weren't the least bit attracted to the cute looking girls. "The master ordered us to welcome you lads." The first one said, smiling. Something about her smile gave off a disturbing vibe. They eyed both girls carefully. "We're here for Ringo. Where is she?" Ikki asked, getting straight to the point.

The second girl snickered cruelly. "You'll get to her.. if you get past us and those insects." She exchanged a look with the other. Then , both girls promptly lifted their hands and snapped their fingers thrice. They stood there smiling, like two anime dolls brought to life from the dead. The aura they were giving were nearly the same Kaito used to give him. A sharp, thin shredded line of disgust ripped through him.

The silence of the night was soon broken by the war cry of hundreds of AT riders. The signal had been given , the battle began. The amateur riders were pretty slow, but they were incredibly violent. Kazu looked at Ikki at the same moment the 2 girls made their move. Both nodded their head in unison and separated 50 metres to the opposite direction. Just as expected , each of the girl chased after each rider. Agito looked to the girls "If you're only going to get in the way, now is a good time to run." He turned back the other second to kick 10 riders off all at once. A couple of seconds later , he saw more riders swarm towards the scene. Kururu, Emily and Yayoi stood together , forming a circle together with Buccha. "Don't look down on us." Emily stated confidently. More riders fell to the ground.

**xxxx**

Rika , Ume and Mikan had been running from Sleeping Forests's base towards the National Library when they saw the fight. They could easily spot their allies, Kazu, Buccha, the girls as well as the Pledge Queen, Kururu. Worryingly, neither Kazu nor Ikki could be seen. "We need to find Ringo." Rika expressed. Mikan looked at the increasing number of riders swarming in onto the group. It certainly seemed that they might need a little help. "Hey Rika, I think I'm gonna go ahead and help those kids. You find Ringo." Splitting duties at this point seemed wise, especially since they were pressed for time. Rika nodded in agreement. Ume looked at both her sisters "What about me?" She asked. Rika looked at her and said "Find Kazu and Ikki. Then give them a slap each for making me worried. Be safe, alright." She couldn't help cautioning her, even though she fully knew that Ume was no ordinary girl. Shiraume was a weapon underneath her petite form. She smiled, then dashed off towards the National Library.


	13. Chapter 13

"Sir , it seems that we have an intruder."

The screen flickered , then , an image from the top floor's security camera enlarged. Most of the guards were wiped clean , surprising both Sora and Nike. They were highly trained in combat, so why are they all knocked out cold? Just then , an image of a woman appeared on screen. It was Rika. She looked straight into the camera for a mere second before the image blurred away. In other words, she came here for one reason. Obviously, the camera wasn't the only things she was about to smash.

Sora barked a laugh "Don't bother fighting that one. Leave her to me. I'll know what to do with her."

After a number of floors down , Rika encountered a solid metal door. She recognised it as one of the doors the scientists used to use on the gravity children to keep them locked in. The door would probably be tonnes in weight and devastatingly hard to break. Just as she was busy musing with her thoughts, the door opened. _Ah, perfect._

When the person who stepped out from the other side came into full view, Rika felt her skin prick with rage. Sora walked haughtily towards her, smirking while walking in the manner he normally did. "Rika, dear. What are you doing here?" He smiled. "I know what you've been doing.. and I won't let you go." She said,clenching her fists tight. Sora didn't say a word, but in a flash, he was already in front of her. "Yeah? Try it." Rika managed to deflect his blow, but his ruthlessness immediately woke her up.

He was not the man she knew anymore, she realized with regret. _Well in that case, I don't have any qualms crushing him. "_Take this you bastard!" She activated her ATs , increasing her speed tremendously. His back was now in full view, and she could clearly see that she was in control of this fight. But then he turned around and caught her kick, spinning her body. Rika easily slipped away, landed on her feet and charged for a second attack. This time, her kick landed a blow onto Sora's shoulders. By the sound of it, Sora's clavicle might have cracked. However, one blow wasn't enough.

Sora wasn't the least bit affected. The man had a strength of a monster. Both of them were on equal footing, strong, agile and most of all, driven by a mad desire to win. Sounds of clashing of the wind and metal echoed throughout the room. Sora flipped 360 degrees above Rika and caught her by the neck. Just as he thought he had her , literally by the neck , she vanished from his view. Then, Sora felt hands on _his _neck instead. Rika stared him down , locking him in a headlock . At the height they were in, impact upon falling would mean certain death.

Kazu and Ikki had been hot on their pursuit of each enemy. It was obvious that they were running as far as possible away from the other for the sole purpose of splitting both of them. The further they are from each other , the higher their chances of victory were. Kazu was getting nearer to his target , a girl heavily bandaged from head to toe. After a few yards, he was within reach of the girl . Kazu reached out and grabbed a string of bandage that was loose from her back. He tugged at the piece of cloth, forcing the girl to turn around and stop running. The expression on her face suggested that she was better off in a mental institution.

"DON'T TOUCH ME !" She screamed, almost in berserk. She tried to cover up the exposed skin , but it was too late. The cloth revealed fleshes of freshly burnt skin underneath. This was done possibly by either torture inflicted by herself or by someone else. Kazu stared at the distorted flesh for an instant before she ran amok towards him. He managed to avoid her ATs hitting his forehead, but not before the first blow actually hit him on the chest. Kazu coughed '_shes fast!' _The girl tucked the loose bandage back into place , and that was the first time Kazu notices the wild look on her eyes. Even before he had time to take a breather , she was already charging at him. "Damn!" Kazu muttered , running full speed towards his opponent.

Ikki , on the other hand had his senses occupied in a game of hide and seek. The girl had a way of blending in with her surroundings , just like a ninja. The fact that she was wearing a full body black leather costume didn't seem to help either. Ikki scanned the area . He was in the middle of a road , surrounded by closed shop houses. _She could be anywhere!_ Any rustle could be a sign , but that knowledge alone only pushed his nerves further on edge. Just then he heard a light thud to his right.

Ikki abruptly turned , hands ready to smash the lights out of the enemy. It turned out to be a cat , looking at him with two enigmatic blue eyes. Suddenly , he saw a reflection in those eyes , coming right from behind him. Ikki felt a whoosh in the air and saw a silver flash as he dodged the long blade. The girl looked at him and licked her blade "Don't worry,I'll feed you tonight." Ikki gulped , realizing that the girl was worse than he thought. But he also realized that he really didn't have time to fool around.

_Lets get this done. _

Kururu had been trying her hardest to fend off all the wild pawns Sora had sent them. Although she is the Queen of the Pledge Road , and had been trained until a certain scope of combat, she was better off in the construction, tuning and maintenances of the AT. This combat was her first formal fight, and her breath had already come in hinged. She could feel her strength deteriorate at an alarming rate. An enemy quickly took that opportunity to send a punch packed with enough mass to break her bones and aimed it straight to her . Unfortunately, Everyone else was occupied in their own battles .

Kururu shut her eyes tight , preparing herself for the hit . A second later , when she felt nothing she immediately opened her eyes and saw a woman's back. She had knocked the enemy out and had gone on to crush his throat with her foot. As she did so , she turned around and asked "Hey, You alright?" Her voice was rough, and in that same moment she realized who that was. "Mikan-san, Thank you so much!" Kururu pulled herself up and bowed .

The numbers of enemies weren't lessening in the least, but as soon as they apprehended that Mikan had joined them, the job became easier. Luck was siding them as their stamina were already stretched beyond their limit. Agito sighed inwardly and showed a flash of smile towards Mikan . _Took her long enough! _Buccha showed her two thumbs up , but quickly regretted doing so as 5 more riders knocked into him. He merely grunted and used his technique "Bump up" , gathering blood into his muscles and expanding his figure into a more muscular form. The riders were consequently plucked off like flower petals off of Buccha.

Spitfire walked casually towards the place Aeon had directed him to. Already the place was a mess , what with the bodies of AT riders thrown across the floor and pieces of metals coming unhinged. "Oi, Aeon!" He called out happily to a very busy spectacled man. Aeon was trapped in the middle of 4 solid robots , calmly eyeing him. A robot advanced towards him , it's arm detached itself and extended to catch his leg. "I'm busy, you bastard!" He said as he punched the robot's arm and jumped into the air , above all 4 robots. He was about to spin and crush the robots cleanly , but then he realized that his foot was stuck. Aeon struggled awkwardly on top of the robot, losing balance.

Spitfire quickly jumped in and caught Aeon, freeing his leg from the Robot. He then placed Aeon on the ground , in accordance to Aeon's obvious demands to put him down. "You always have to make your stupid grand entrance." Aeon seethed grudgingly. "Aww come on baby!" Spitfire cooed jokingly."WHAT did you just call me?" Aeon said as he jumped to the side, evading the robot's body hurl. Spitfire took that chance to thrust a fist into the robot's head. The robot swayed for a couple of seconds, but remained bolt upright afterwards. "Aeon. _Baby_, this thing is tough!" Spitfire said, looking at the robot desperately.

"Apparently , the spectacled British dude wasn't joking about its strength." Aeon said, ignoring Spitfire's last emphasis on the dreaded word. He then launched another attack on the head, hoping that damage on the same area would do the trick. This time, Aeon watched the robot as it fell to the ground. Just as his hope was about to bloom , the robot propped itself up again and headed for his direction. Even worse , its speed was about twice faster . Aeon looked at Spitfire briefly , sighing. They nodded silently in unison.

There was a reason why he called Spitfire here today . He knew this trick could only be done with this man , with his fiery red hair and attitude to match , Aeon knew he could entrust his life in those hands. Spitfire on the other hand had already fired up his ATs , activating his Appolon Road with Aeon's assistance. There was no other who would qualify , but Aeon . Creating a huge gash of hot fiery wind , Spitfire was able to activate a version of Infinity Atmosphere . A cross-shaped blast of flame was released , St Elmo's Crossfire.

The flame blared violently in the direction of all the robots , everyone ducked , both friend and foe alike. The fire spread like wildfire , but only in the direction of the robots . Aeon and Spitfire had set the trick down long ago, directing the fire like a ventriloquist controlling his dolls. The fire persisted strongly , burning the tough metal exterior shells of the robots. Percival looked in enraged dismay as his puppets struggled in the fire , still hoping that his exaggeration earlier would remain standing. He felt a little sick inside , decided whether or not to make an escape and leave the place alive or cling to the remaining strands of hope that the robots wouldn't crumble to pieces.

At first , the robots looked as if they were not the least bit unscathed . But as the fire continued its reign of fire , the robots finally gave way. They gave a shriek, followed by continuous beeping noises which made everyone in the area back away as far as possible from them. _Beep. Beep. Beep__**. BEEP**__._ The last beep sent a shockwave blast within a radius of 500 metres. The windows of the church and other buildings surrounding the place smashed with a deafening blast. Heat encircled the vicinity like an overheated microwave. Pieces of wood and concrete scattered on the ground .

Without realising it , Spitfire had drawn Aeon close to his chest , holding him tight in an embrace of protection. They crouched down behind a solid wall of concrete , clinging to one another. Spitfire slowly opened his eyes , releasing Aeon from his embrace. He looked at the other man , whose spectacles had flown off and was looking intently at him. "You know, I told you not to call me that in public." Aeon said, scowling. "What, Baby?" Spitfire smirked. "Who knows if that might've been my last time" He murmured , moving closer to Aeon. Even before Aeon could get a word out, he found his mouth captured by Spitfire's lips. They felt soft as they slowly started to kiss him. Aeon wanted to protest, but gave in eventually. Spitfire drew back and breathed in his ear "When all of this is done.." He didn't finish it verbally , but his hand had encircled around Aeon's bulge and squeezed it teasingly, Aeon had to bite back a moan.

"Seriously though . No 'baby' in public." Aeon smiled as he fished around his jacket for his spare glasses. Spitfire rolled his eyes. There was _no way_ he was going to stop . "Hey, we should get going. But first , there's something I need to investigate" His tone immediately lost all it's playfulness. "I think our friend might know something about this."

The room seemed to be at a standstill as Sora and Rika both fell at a height of 30 feet. For one moment , their eyes met. Instead of the warm eyes Rika had longed for, Sora simply looked at her through a pair of cold eyes. "Is this what we have come to?" Rika asked sadly , not loosening her grip one bit. "There was nothing in the first place, you stupid bitch." Sora answered callously. His indifference was like a splash of freezing cold water, shocking and painful. Even when his neck was fixed in her deathly grip, Sora, who knew too well of her tactics had managed to twist himself free.

As they landed, facing each other, Sora wasted no time to allow his opponent to even catch a breath. His intent was murderous and Rika knew she had better snap out of her reverie before his blow could incapacitate her. She haven't used the technique since her battle with Ikki, but now was a good time. Her muscles tensed in excitement.

It was as if Sora had read her mind as he stopped short in his tracks just a few metres from her. It was too late. Rika had already gathered enough momentum and energy to bulldoze even the thickest metal in the circumference of a football field. Everything seemed to be sucked in the vortex of wind Rika had created. Even without a regalia she was still able to wield so much power, and that had made her the previous Thorn Queen in the first place. Sora tried to shield himself from the onslaught using his bare arms, which obviously wasn't enough.

The air burned . It wasn't just from the heat created by the violent wind Rika created, but it was full of the hatred and revenge of his betrayal towards Rika, and the rest of her family. She knew the technique was a double edged sword , that her body would be wounded just as much as the enemy would. That didn't matter. She watched Sora as his body was flung back by the tremendous force. Any normal human being would have died upon the impact, but Sora wasn't just any human being. His body was covered in blood, mainly from the gash in his temple and from various parts of his body. Sora was barely alive, but Rika wasn't in a better condition either. Slumping against a wall for support, Rika was astounded by how exhausted she really is.

Rika glanced at the motionless body lying a few metres away from her. She couldn't see his face from where she stood. Then slowly, she moved towards him. It took every ounce of energy left in her just to make the short distance. She then knelt down and looked at him, remembering all the memories they had. Her hand was about to brush his bloodied temple when Sora's hand shot towards her neck. Before she realized it, Sora was already choking the life out of her. "Heh, You thought you had me, didn't you?" He sneered as he sat on top of her. Her chest felt like it was on fire. Rika tried to hit him, but she simply couldn't reach him. He was too strong. Rika's hands flailed for a while , but after a few minutes the hits got weaker. Her vision blurred , and for a split second, she saw the faces of her family members flash before her eyes. They looked so innocent and happy, calling out to her. Then that vision ended, replaced by Sora's face when they were younger. For a short moment, she forgot that this is the man who was actually trying to kill her, but the man whom she loved. He reached out for her. That did it, Rika's eyes snapped open. _You're not that man anymore!_

Using literally all the energy and will power she had left, Rika let out a scream and felt a surge of power in her veins. She grabbed his hands and clawed her nails deep into his hands. They bled instantaneously, but they didn't budge. If there was one thing she prided in, Noyamano sisters never go down without a good fight. She opened her mouth to speak, but as she tried to speak , all she heard was choking noises. _This is pathetic. Noyamano Rika , choked to death by boyfriend. Wait, no. Ex-boyfriend. Whatever. _This time, due to the lack of oxygen , her arms went lax. The last thing she could think of before her surroundings faded into nothingness was of the little family she had. Darkness took over.

Ikki was just about done trampling the leather-suited girl when he heard a shrill voice calling out to him. "Ikki!" He recognised that voice. Ume was running full speed towards him, something he had never seen her done before. She had always been such a calm and collected child. Ikki met her halfway, only to be dragged forward by a force that shouldn't even be possessed by a 10 year old. "Ume, what's going on?" "Rika-Nee is going head to head with Sora alone!" They ran back towards the library at a frantic speed .

Ikki's heart suddenly started beating fast. It wasn't because of the run, he knew, but for some reason, he felt as if someone had stabbed his heart with an icy spear. _Something is wrong, I know it. _He could feel it in his bones. Ume wore the same disturbed expression. Both of them stopped talking, concentrating on getting to the library as fast as possible.

It was clear that the fight was nearly over by the time Ikki reached the building . He spotted Mikan who was finishing off 3 amateur riders at once, next to Buccha. Once she saw Ikki, she simply wrestled her way through to reach him. "Ikki, Rika's gone inside. I don't know why, but I know something is definitely wrong. Please, save them." She looked at him desperately. "Don't worry, I'm going in now." This was the first time his independent, tomboy sister had asked him for a favour . In normal circumstances, he would've gaped and proceeded to laugh at her. But Rika and Ringo were no laughing matter.

Almost instantly , Kururu saw him from the other side of the building. She ran up to Ikki, looking at him square in the eyes. "What's wrong?" She asked carefully. It was amazing how she could read him like an open book. Ikki couldn't form the words without making it sound that it had actually happened. "I think something happened to Rika-Nee.." Ikki said. "I've gotta go in there. Now." He turned around , heading for the library. Even before he could walk any further, Kururu quickly grabbed his arm. "Wait!" She took a breath before continuing. "I'll install your Moonstruck bagram and.. tune you." Her face flushed red, but her expression was resolute.

Ikki nodded. He had no idea how tuning was done, but judging by the look on Kururu's face, he could tell things were going to be awkward. "Ikki, let's go somewhere a little quieter. I'll be able to concentrate better then." She sounded nervous. This was probably her very first time officially tuning an AT rider. They went behind the door of the roof and stood in silence, facing each other. "Kururu, what do I do now?" Ikki spoke calmly, trying to lessen her burden.

Kururu held her hands tight and said "We take off our clothes. B-But just the top! The clothes will hinder me." She said, shyly. It was a fairly easy process for Ikki, as a man. He saved her the agony by turning around and closing his eyes. "I trust you." He said. The relationship of an AT rider and a tuner was said to go beyond even the relationships of a lover. The thought of that made Ikki think of Ringo, and he immediately felt guilty.

Slowly, he felt Kururu's body slither up to his. She rested her head on his chest, and the rest of her body on the same parts as his. At first it seemed as if they weren't doing anything , but then he felt a tide of power growing from the balls of his feet up to the rest of his body. He didn't know what caused it, but Kururu's cool demeanour put him at ease . She could feel his heartbeat, the rush of his blood in his veins, his warmth, everything. Then she noticed it. '_His body.. why is it somewhat different?' _ Kururu thought worriedly, thinking there was something wrong. But then, she remembered one of her lessons and felt her heart lurch. '_He's already. .With Ringo-san.._' She stopped herself. Now was not the time for petty jealousy. Right now , Ikki was going to need her help.

The process was relatively easy and fast, and before Ikki knew it, Kururu had already asked him to open his eyes. By the time he did, he found that Kururu was already fully clothed and was getting ready to go out the door. She wore a satisfied smile on her face. "It's done, Ikki-sama. You'll be able to fully utilise the power of the Bagram now." Ikki tightened the shoe lace on his ATs one last time and looked out the door. "Let's go."


	14. Chapter 14

Sora slowly lifted his hands away from Rika's neck. He didn't budge from his spot for a while. Rika's face had lost it's tenacity ,as if the fight had been sucked out of her. Incidentally, her body remained motionless below him. Then, he crouched down next to her and tentatively caressed her hair. 'I did love you.. but you were in my way.' Sora picked up her body and hugged her close. "Goodnight, my Thorn Queen." He then laid down her body and walked away without turning back.

xxx

If there was one word that could be used to describe Dr. Minami , it would be quirky. He had his own way of doing things, always at his own pace. Never slow, but never rushed either. The things he created could come out looking monstrous, but it could also be magnificent and beautiful at the same time. No one had been able to gauge his abilities. But one thing for sure; this man is in a league of his own. Quirky as he was, there was still an aura of mystery that constantly clouded him, making him utterly unpredictable.

The lab he created underneath the club had been a perfect hiding spot. To top it off, he had maintained perfectly amicable relationships with everyone there is to know. That included the high-classed businessmen to the regularly broke patrons, right down to every law enforcer there was in town. So naturally, his club was raid-free. People generally took a liking towards his friendly nature. What people didn't know was that this man was also the best scientist in Asia who was regularly contacted by International organizations across the world.

He had been sitting down, twiddling a pen between his fingers when Kilik walked in . "So, how was it?" He asked, eyeing the younger man. Kilik scowled and took a seat on one of the leather couches in the room. "You know how it is." He rolled his eyes. Then, he felt his phone vibrate. He flicked it open to see that Spitfire had sent him a message. The message read 'Hey, Let's go for a drink!' _This guy has really bad timing._ Kilik quickly texted back a reply 'Can't . Sorry, I'm working tomorrow.' As soon as he sent the message, he realized how lame that sounded. Spitfire was as persistent as a hellhound.

"Kilik."Dr. Minami called. Kilik's head snapped up "What?" He was still scowling. "You don't _have_ to stay, y'know." Kilik didn't say anything. Another message came in 'Don't be a pussy. Today's a national holiday , stupid. Besides.. I've got something to ask you.' Kilik shuffled through his brain, suddenly remembering that today was indeed a holiday. September 23rd, Autumn Equinox Day. Kilik smacked his forehead. "You're such a stubborn boy, Kilik. Why can't you be more like Simca?"Dr. Minami said with a sigh. Again, Kilik remained silent. "That boy will lose his head."

Kilik knew who he was talking about. But what was he supposed to do about it? He had already taken the spectator's seat, what would happen if he laid a hand in this mess? Sleeping Forest , it seemed, hadn't been strong enough to protect the Sky Regalia. This is why he wasn't interfering in the first place. The original plan was to take the enemy down just when they weren't expecting it. As it is now, things may have spun slightly out of control. "He lost his head years ago." Kilik said, detesting the sad undertone in his voice. There was no reason to feel any sort of attachment to that man anymore.

"I never meant to create a nuclear bomb."Dr. Minami stared at him, almost reproachfully. "But you did. The man is _literally_ like a ticking _nuclear_ time bomb." Kilik countered. "He's my _son!_" The moment those words escaped Dr. Minami's mouth, he knew he couldn't take back his words. Instead, he simply laid his head back onto the chair. Of course this hadn't come off as a surprise to Kilik, he knew _everything_. Also,he knew that this man had spun a web so tricky and complicated, all it took was a fire to burn them all. Sora and Kilik were once close, close enough to get a pair of complimentary tattoos engraved on their backs. Kilik missed the pure, carefree person all those years ago. All that he is now is nothing more than a bloodthirsty monster, blinded by his own greed. Maybe this time, It's his turn to help him instead.

Kilik sent Spitfire a message and got off the sofa. He turned towards the door, and without turning back replied "He'll be fine..no, _They_ will be fine. Your sons ."Dr. Minami smiled and turned towards the computer screen. The desktop screen was a picture of a man with two boys. One was merely a baby, while the other was around 8 years old. He looked at himself in the screen, smiling proudly while holding his two sons. Sora and Itsuki. He should never have gotten them involved in his work, let alone be among the lab's specimens.

Now, they are going to kill each other.

xxx

Spitfire immediately went over to the club, which, thankfully wasn't even 10 minutes away from the scene of the fight earlier. He immediately saw Kilik's tall, lanky form from a distance. He seemed to be in deep thought, not really noticing anyone or his surroundings. Only when both Spitfire and Aeon were right in front of him did he snap up to greet them, although somewhat awkwardly. Spitfire didn't bother beating around the bush, they didn't have time. "Kilik, Sora is out of control. I know for a FACT that you knew something about this. You did, didn't you? Don't even try to deny it."Spitfire looked at him square in the eyes, and if he tried to imagine it, he would have sworn he saw embers in those eyes.

"Who said anything about denying anything? I'm sorry I hid it from you guys, but I had to." Kilik apologized, but he still sounded a little smug, typical Kilik. Aeon squeezed his fist, and punched Kilik in the face. For a moment, Kilik saw stars. "That, was for sending Ikki-sama into this mess." Aeon said slowly, through clenched teeth. Spitfire said nothing. He had seen Aeon pissed and knew better than to interfere. Kilik looked up at Aeon, spat a mouthful of blood and smiled. "I'm sorry. I mean it. I know words won't mean anything to you right now, so thats why I'll prove it through my actions." Kilik looked down, inserted his hands into his pockets and pulled out two small round objects.

The two of them whistled. "Damn. I didn't know this thing was still around." Spitfire said, half gaping at the object in Kilik's hands. "Indeed." Was all Kilik said. Aeon, on the other hand was much faster to question "How'd you get that?" The accuracy in his voice was sharp. Kilik looked uneasy, contemplating whether or not to answer the question. "Let's just say, since I knew all of this was going to happen" making a gesture with his hands "I just thought Ikki might be needing these." Kilik shrugged, putting the objects back in his pocket, zipping them. Aeon looked at Spitfire, and he saw the same thing reflected back in his eyes.

There was no doubt. Ambiguous and painfully stubborn as he was, Kilik was and still is as straight as a pin. Kilik saw them exchange looks, took out the objects and placed each one in each of the men's hands. "Please, give me your trust. " It was hard to turn him down when he made that face. Kilik would be much better working as the Prime Minister. He had a natural flair for leadership. Spitfire smiled and finally said "We trust you. Now let's go straighten out these guys"

xxx

Kazu was back with the team. Most of them were covered with cuts and bruises from the fight, but they each had a proud look on their faces. Emily spotted Kazu from afar and immediately dashed towards him. "Kazu-sama!" Emily called out cheerfully. Kazu couldn't help but to smile at the honorific, even if he had gotten used to it. It wasn't like he hadn't told her to drop the honorific, but the girl was too damned adamant about it. "Hey, you guys did a great job" He said, casually patting her on the head. "Eh? A-Ahh, haha, I-I guess." Emily stuttered, her face flushing red. Kazu , of course didn't notice anything.

When they arrived, he saw that Ikki was in the middle, quietly staring at the National Library. Kazu went over to him.

"Hey, You alright?"

"Yeah, just.. thinking."

"About what?"

Ikki looked down, his lip was set in a thin line. "Ringo. Rika-Nee." Kazu laid his hands on Ikki's shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. "They'll be alright." Ikki looked at Kazu and tried to smile. The smile didn't reach his eyes . Somehow, Ikki couldn't shake off the uneasiness that had bogged him earlier. It was starting to creep into his chest, planting seeds of doubt into him. _Please let them be alright_

xxx

She was finally awake. Her long auburn hair was still wet from her blood and water, thrown by Nike earlier. There was something different though, she didn't feel anymore pain. In fact, she wasn't even scared. She is, in a sense, Noyamano Ringo still, but the impact of Nike's hit to her skull had caused a mild concussion. But this would be the least of their problem. Ringo wasn't herself. The woman who had been terrified just moments ago was gone. This woman knew no fear. The cross shaped light in her eye gleamed like a diamond, just as the corners of her mouth stretched into a grin as the words flowed :

"The trees entangle their arms and

Stretch upward into the sky.

The budding leaves devour the light

Adding depth to the forest's darkness."

Her voice was firm and strong, regal as a queen. She sat straight and looked into the eyes of her captors. Nike eyed her suspiciously from across the room. "What the hell are you talking about?" He yelled. In truth, he was scared. The pressure around the room tightened and became burdensomely heavy. Most of the workers in the room was already having difficulty breathing. Why is this girl suddenly speaking in riddles?

"The hunter does not notice the glare

Nor the claws of the beast biding in the darkness

Tonight is the night when the hunter will be hunter

This is the Sleeping Forest."

As her words ended, the room suddenly felt too small for Nike. It felt like a cage, and he was trapped in it with a lioness. _This is crazy, why am I scared of this piece of shit? She's just a girl!_Nike was starting to worry. Just then, the doors opened and Sora walked into the room. He too, noticed the change that happened to Ringo. "What happened?" He asked, almost accusingly. Nike glared at Sora "The hell should I know! She woke up and started saying all these weird things. Maybe she's going crazy." They both looked at Ringo. There was something different about her, especially the way she looked at them.

Ringo looked at her bounded hands and feet. "What is this?" She asked Sora. Sora took a minute, thinking. Who is this person? He observed her carefully. From top to bottom, there was no physical changes to her. Everything was the same, except her demeanour. She exuded strength, elegance and power. If anything, she looked like she was probably strong enough to break those ropes herself. This girl is like a Queen. Sora's mind suddenly snapped into place. He cleared his throat and said

"The Sky Regalia is in danger of being stolen, Thorn Queen." His eyes gleamed, like a snakes. If his guess was right, this girl is not Noyamano Ringo anymore. Rather, she is the Thorn Queen, programmed to awaken if the Sky Regalia was exposed to a potential threat. Having the Thorn Queen awaken was not something he had expected. Her strength wasn't something to be joked about. Even if Sora and Nike were to combine forces, their chances of victory would've been extremely slim. Considering the grave circumstances, having the most powerful chess piece to themselves would boost their victory rate tremendously. Then again, she could turn on them and that would be the end.

The Thorn Queen in reality, apart from the title, is merely a programme that is embedded onto a human. The thing about being the Thorn Queen was that it does not have any memory of the body it was etched onto. Neither does it have any feelings whatsoever. It is, put simply, like a machine. The brain that had been holding the holder's memories are completely blocked, and it is almost impossible to break. To the holder, it's the same as being possessed , only to a programme. The only thing that wills it to move is the threat towards the Sky Regalia. Other than that, as said before, it is more or less a fighting machine.

She scanned the room, the high-equipped facilities on the other side of the room. There were a couple of workers manning the computers and machines. All of them were in a white lab coat, except the two muscular men whom she recognized. Nonetheless, the moment the words "Sky Regalia" and "danger" was used in the same sentence, the rest didn't matter. The Sky Regalia _must_ be protected against outsiders. "Untie me." She held out her hand forward, motioning them to hurry.

At first, Sora didn't make a move, not entirely convinced that the woman was who he thought she was. "I said..Untie me, _now_." It was at her second command that his doubts were completely dissipated. The pressure in the room rose to an uncomfortable tension. At the same time, the machines started to beep continuously , sensing the change in the room's atmosphere. All of the workers nearly fainted from the pressure and were gasping for air. Nike and Sora were the only ones unaffected. Sora eventually motioned Nike to untie her. The cross-shaped symbol in her eye had become very obvious

Nike quickly untied her hands and legs, but later remained a good distance away from her. He didn't like having the woman in the same space as he is. Sora, on the other hand had produced an IPad and was flicking through something. He stopped upon a picture and rushed to the Thorn Queen's side. "This is the intruder. He has brought in others as well, and they have wiped out 70% of our men." Sora said , in an urgent manner. At the same time, he handed The Thorn Queen the IPad. She looked at the boy in the picture tentatively. "Who is he?"

Sora nearly smiled and thrown his fist into the air, but refrained himself from doing so. Instead, he answered her "He is .. Minami Itsuki. Our enemy."

**Hello :) Please drop me a review and tell me what you guys think about it.**

**Thank you!**


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 14 :

Maybe somewhere in the back of his mind, he already knew. But looking at the actual thing was different, and for a moment he thought that his mind had played a joke on him. Rika's body lay on the ground, motionless. His initial reaction was to laugh out loud, thinking how out of character it was of Rika-Nee to play dead on the ground. _That is so childish, Rika-Nee_. But, her chest wasn't moving, showing no indications of life at all. Ikki swallowed hard, tentatively taking a step towards her. "Rika-Nee?" His voice wavered.

The walls seemed to close upon him as he knelt in front of her. A thousand thoughts ran through his mind. It was as if a nightmare was happening right in front of him, and he was powerless to stop it. She looked as if she was only sleeping.

_Sniff_

That sound dragged his senses back to live. It was as if the wind had stopped blowing inside him, and all he felt was empty. "Rika-Nee? Wake up, Rika-Nee.." He shook her shoulders, lightly at first. Her body was still hot, but there was no reaction. Rika's eyes were closed so serenely, he refused to believe it was any other way. He shook her harder. "RIKA-NEE! WAKE UP, GODDAMNIT!" He started screaming , shaking her wildly.

Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulders. His first reaction was to swipe it away. Couldn't they see he was trying to wake her up? But then, he saw Mikan's face and he felt a lump raise in his throat. She had tears rolling down her face. "Stop, Ikki. Just.. Stop." Her voice choked up and she turned her face away. At that moment, he apprehended. No amount of shaking or yelling would bring the woman back to life. She was dead. Ume sat next to him, sobbing. She had never seemed more childlike before.

Ikki didn't even realize that he was crying until he heard himself . "Don't cry, Ume" His voice was thick. Gently, he laid Rika's body back onto the ground, her hair a tangle of mess underneath her perfectly serene face. It was unreal. Ume had curled herself up next to Rika's body, crying on her chest. "Rika-Nee.." Mikan too, had slumped onto the ground. She bit her lower lip to prevent herself from crying out loud, but her efforts were dampened by her own grief. He looked at two of his sisters who rarely displayed so much so of an emotion, but now ,they were actually sobbing. In a whim, he gathered both of the girls into his arms.

xx

They were crouching on the floor, huddled with one another when the huge metal door opened. It made a heavy sound as tonnes of kilograms worth of metal was slowly being pulled apart . All of them tensed up, looking both in awe and anticipation as the door finally opened to it's full width. Ikki could make out three figures standing out just a few paces behind the door.

When he first saw her standing in the middle of Sora and Nike, He felt himself unravel inside. Relieved to see that she was alive, Ikki opened his mouth to talk to her but was clamped a second later by Mikan. He looked at her worriedly. "Don't. That's not Ringo , Ikki." Mikan said, slowly unclamping her fingers. Ikki looked back , this time sucking in a breath as Sora leaned in to talk to Ringo. He couldn't hear what he was saying, but that wasn't the issue. _Why is Ringo so relaxed? _

In fact, Ringo _smiled_ a second later, nodding calmly at what he just said. _What the..? _"That's the_ Thorn Queen._" Ume whispered , barely looking up. Even before Ikki could say anything else, Sora stepped forward and spoke. "You know, It's a real shame about Rika.." He said, without a sliver of remorse in his voice. Ikki released his sisters , stood up and squared his shoulders "Don't say her name, you worthless piece of shit." This man had the audacity to stand there with a smile on his face when the girl he just murdered laid just a few feet away from him. He really is a monster.

"I'm going to kill you." Ikki declared, his voice firm with determination. The whole room went silent as they looked past Ikki to Sora. Neither one of their expressions betrayed their emotions inside. Ikki looked back at Ringo, who was still calmly staring at the crowd, as if she was scanning each face. Oddly, her expression didn't change one bit even as her eyes flitted across Rika's corpse. It was as if she couldn't care less about her. Then, their eyes met and a look of recognition finally came onto her face. Ikki nearly breathed a sigh of relief until Ringo pointed a finger in his direction.

"That's the _enemy_ , isn't it?"

His breath caught in his throat. Sora nodded "Yes, Thorn Queen." Then, he looked at Ikki and smirked. Ikki snapped. He wouldn't leave this place until that man is dead. "SORAA!" With a cry, Ikki ran towards Sora, expecting his fist to connect to the bastard's face. Just as he was halfway through, Ringo suddenly blocked his way, readying herself for an assault. _What the..? _

She flexed her right leg, and raised them in the position of a baseball player. A huge blast of wave in the form of air was released once her kick was fully swung. The wave was malevolent and it grazed the white tiles off as if they were butter, making a crushing sound as they passed. Ikki quickly jumped up into the air, riding the wave easily. "Damnit, Ringo! What are you DOING?" Instead, his question was answered with more attacks.

As he came closer, he noticed that Ringo's eyes had cross-shaped lights glowing from within. It was unnatural, and it never left him either. She took the opportunity and easily grabbed his shoulders ,throwing him hard and consequently slamming him into the wall. The impact created a gash in the concrete wall, bringing shivers down his spine. Ikki briefly saw stars clouding his vision before realizing that Ringo had already sent another wave in his direction. This time, he couldn't dodge it.

"Ikki!" Mikan quickly appeared in front of him, creating an equally powerful kick to block Ringo's attack. "Ikki, you can't fight her alone. She's too strong for all of us!" Ikki pulled himself up, looking at Ringo's calm figure standing on the other side of the now-divided arena. The impact had created a huge moat 3 feet deep which elongated till the sides of the arena. Debris of concrete scattered all over the place, momentarily creating a sandy diversion.

Then, he saw it. Sora and Nike was slowly moving out of the room. "WAIT, STAY AND FIGHT YOU BASTARD!" His cry echoed throughout the room, grabbing everyone's attention. Kazu and Agito quickly dashed across the room trying to stop both of them, but failed as they hit an electronically charged barrier. They were both instantly thrown backwards with a worryingly loud fizzing sound, knocking them out cold. Sora smiled curtly, adjusted his cap and turned around. "SORAAAAA!" Ikki screamed. He started running towards the door from which they had entered from, but was once again frustrated to see that Ringo had blocked his path. "Damnit!"

xx

Sora and Nike walked for about 100 paces in two different directions and stopped as they reached their destinations. There were two buttons , one on each side. A warning was issued on the wall in large letterings, the paper yellowing. Obviously, this place has been around for a long time. "Ready?" Sora said, his voice echoing across the walls. Nike flexed his fingers and called back "Ready." The rest of those idiots can fight it out for all he cared. Better yet if they ended up killing one another. After all, they're just pawns in his conquest for the Sky Regalia. Nike may not have realised this just yet, but he is also just another pawn in Sora's eyes. It was just that he trusted the man too much to realise it yet.

"In 3,2.. 1."

The buttons were pressed simulataneously, and both carefully stepped back at once. The buttons retreated back into the walls as if nothing happened. In reality, the pulleys and gears of the Trophaeum Tower was slowly being opened. It might take hours, considering the age and weight of the gears which withstood across the years. Now, all they had to do was wait till the gates were fully opened. When it is, nothing will stand in his way of getting the Sky Regalia.

As Ringo went on ahead fighting against Ikki and Mikan, Kururu couldn't help but to constantly glance at her watch. Time is running out for Ikki. She was fully aware that the bagram she had installed for him just minutes prior was in fact, a fake. It was merely a prototype. The powers of the bagram were strained and course, and takes up a lot of effort to use in comparison to the original bagram. Ikki would have to exert himself in order to use even a simple trick.

_Tick , Tock_

Frustrated, she bit on her lower lip hard till she tasted blood in her mouth. Just 10 minutes more and Ikki would be finished. Ikki knew of this, but neither he nor Kururu were expecting the Thorn Queen to awaken. Now, it seemed as if a joint effort would also be out of the question, seeing as both Kazu and Agito were electrocuted . She wouldn't bet on Buccha and Onigiri to hold out for long either. And the girls..? It was completely out of the question. It'd be like crushing ants for the Thorn Queen.

_Tick , Tock_

Emily and Yayoi had gone over to Kazu and Agito to check on them. Their clothes were charred , and their bodies emitted a burnt smell. Both girls immediately went for their pulses to see if they were alive, and sighed in relief when they found them beating strong still. Agito aroused first, followed by Kazu.

"Fuck.. They had an electric barrier up around them." Agito grunted, propping himself up with one arm. He breathed slowly through his mouth, trying to level his heartbeat. Beatings, he could handle. An electric shock was like having his entire body burnt, and that was painful as hell. Yayoi sat next to him, smiling "I thought you died.." She sniffed, grabbing his hands. "Fuck, Why the hell would I die?" Agito rolled his eyes, but squeezed her fingers reassuringly later. This girl was starting to grow on him.

Emily on the other hand, was silent for a moment before wrapping her arms around Kazu. She couldn't say anything, feeling the lump in her throat. Kazu was momentarily shocked, but smiled a moment later while encircling his arms around her. They didn't say anything to each other, simply embracing each other until a crash jolted them out of their reverie. Mikan was seen to be hurled aside, while Ikki was flipping in the air, dodging yet another lethal hit. For some reason, this hit was different than the rest of the normal hits she had been giving. Then, they realized. She had been _playing _with them all along.

xx

As a matter of fact, The Thorn Queen was doing more damage than good to Ringo's body. The last time she had used the Sonia Road was a long time ago, and even then she had only been practicing for a few hours. With her body drenched in sweat, Ringo could barely feel her limbs the next day. The pain left from the joints in which nitrogen had been filled were so intense that she couldn't even get out of bed for the whole day. And that was merely using 10% of the Sonia Road's powers.

Imagine multiplying it by 100, with limitless usage. Her body would be wrecked for good. Forget that, she faces a high possibility of having countless numbers of her internal organs damaged from being in control of the Thorn Queen. If she stayed much longer in that state, her heart might even start failing , too. But right now, she is practically the Queen on the chessboard.

Huffing, Mikan hauled herself up after the tenth time of being thrown against the wall. Apparently, The Thorn Queen had merely been toying with them this whole time. The damages on the arena were merely a scratch on her full potential. She didn't need to imagine their fate if she were to utilise her full powers. But then, she remembered. Like a piece of puzzle clicking into place, Mikan suddenly realized something.

The Thorn Queen was strong, yes. But the carrier, Ringo , wasn't _as_ strong. Her body might just collapse under the pressure of using the powers of the Sonia Road. "Ikki, Snap her out of it! She's going to die if she goes on like this!" Mikan frantically shouted at Ikki. His face was blank for a moment as he stared at Mikan, digesting her words. "What are you saying?" He shouted back. "Her body is already starting to reject the programme!"Then, he turned around to look at Ringo. Blood was running down her nose, but the problem is, he didn't even manage to put a scratch onto her. His expression turned violent.

_There's no way I'll let her die. _

The Thorn Queen's movements were turning swifter by the second, as if she was made of air itself. Her attacks had increasingly turned more and more deadly, and Ikki was starting to get the feeling that she was only starting to get serious. Furthermore, her hit turned more precise, and every attack hit him like a steel whip. At the same time, Ikki was only too aware that he only had one chance to get this hit right. The bagram could only handle so much of pressure, and it was already starting to crumble.

Collecting his thoughts, Ikki collectively calmed his mind. _One shot_, that's all he's got. Breathing through his mouth, he eyed The Thorn Queen . She wiped away the blood trickling down her nose with the back of her hand with a passive look on her face. The blood on her head had dried off, hardening the crown of her head red. Those things didn't bother the Thorn Queen at the very least, but it was driving him crazy.

He slowly gathered the wind around him until it reached the perfect size he wanted it to be. The air around were charged and dense from all the pressure released from the fighting in the arena. Ikki smiled a faint hopeful smile , he might have a chance of defeating her. The Thorn Queen hardened the look in her eyes, noticing the new change in the air. It was as if the air particles were being sucked into a specific spot where Ikki stood. Smirking, she deliberately pulled the pressure in the room higher.

Ikki bent over, gritting his teeth from the sudden pressure. Mikan , Ume , Agito and Kazu seemed to be just as strained, but the rest of them were barely standing. "Get out of here!" Ikki yelled in their direction. The only time he had used 'Pile Tornado' was outdoors, and even then the effect was catastrophic. The girls, including Onigiri and Buccha immediately left the arena, unable to withstand the pressure.

The air he had gathered was only 75% done when the Thorn Queen started attacking again. Without saying a word, Kazu and Agito jumped in front of him. "Finish it!" They screamed in unison, trying their best to hold off the Thorn Queen. She was currently utilising 'Whips of Thorns' , one of Ringo's techniques. The only difference now is that her 'thorn' was strong enough to cut through steel, let alone flesh. Kazu's jacket ripped, barely dodging her kick. _A little bit more.._

More air was sucked into the vortex. Ikki was already having a hard time containing it within the pressure , and to top it off, the bagram was straining him to the point of exhaustion. He could feel it, the cracks in the bagram and he knew he had to release it before it was destroyed completely. Finally, he managed to contain enough volumes of air to properly execute the trick. "Guys, MOVE!" With a cry, Ikki slammed his kick into the air, creating a tornado-like vortex.

Agito and Kazu immediately jumped out of the way, the tornado trailing like a bullet train just a few inches away from them. Ikki then jumped and rode the wave of the 'Pile Tornado' , nearing the Thorn Queen in less than a second. She seemed to be taken aback for once. But then, she regained composure in the same second, quickly rotating on the same axis. As the tornado neared, she had created another version of a tornado of her own.

"Infinite Chain, Turquoise Sonia"

For a brief second, Ikki thought he saw her smile. "RINGO , COME BACK!" Then, both tornados clashed with an earth-shattering boom, amplified by the enclosure of the arena before everything crumbled.

xx

Once again, Ringo found herself wandering through a god-forsaken desert. Evidently, she was lost again. The place looked the same any way she turned. Ringo noted, the place smelled of dynamite, burnt ashes and death. As she looked up, she saw that the sky had turned a sinister shade darker. _I need to get out of here.._

Just as she was to take a step forward, a hand reached out from behind her and grabbed her before her feet could land on a live bomb. Ringo immediately turned around, eyes wide open. She was shocked to see that the woman was none other than Rika-Nee. Rika smiled at her and gently wrapped her arms around Ringo, as if cradling a child. "Listen to me, you need to wake up. I can't help you any further than this." Ringo couldn't understand what she was saying. "But, what..?" Just as she said this, the landscape changed to a different view.

A cobblestoned path appeared , leading up onto a hill. Towards the end, a golden door stood majestically, light pouring from behind the door. The sight was stunning. Suddenly, she heard a voice from above. There wasn't anyone else there but her and Rika, but that voice..

_RINGO, COME BACK!_

_Ikki_. Ringo felt her heart palpitate faster. Has it been that long since she last heard his voice? Slowly, Rika released Ringo from her embrace, her face looking more beautiful than it had ever been before. "Ringo, take care of everyone. Tell them I love them." Ringo's mouth went slack, tears suddenly forming in the corners of her eyes. "Why're you saying this?" Rika paused before answering. "Because.. I'm already dead." She smiled, one ghostly smile. Dead. Rika-Nee.. Dead.

"NO! No, No, NO! YOU CAN'T BE DEAD. LOOK, IF YOU ARE. THEN I SHOULD BE TOO!" Ringo began shouting hysterically, tears flowing freely down her face. "I am. But you will be too, if you stay in this place for too long." Rika's voice was calm, but she could hear the underlying concern in her voice. "But.. what will we do without you?" Ringo said, shaking her head. "You'll be fine. Just remember one thing, protect the Sky Regalia. Don't ever let it fall into the hands of the likes of Takeuchi Sora." Rika replied, and Ringo could clearly see the hate in her eyes.

A sound suddenly reverberated across the area. The sky started tearing, and so did the ground, as if the whole place was falling apart. "You must go now!" As she said so, Ringo felt herself being pushed towards the door. "Rika-Nee!" Rika clutched her hand, smiling as she did so. "You've been great, Ringo.. As a leader, a sister.. I love you." Rika kissed Ringo on the forehead, reluctant to let her go. The path fell apart, swallowed by the earth and Rika immediately pushed Ringo into the other side of the door. "RIKA-NEE!" With a parting smile, Ringo was pushed into the light.

Note :I know right, don't go into the light? Haha! But seriously, I really didn't know what else to do with Ringo, so I figured I'll just leave that to your imagination. Be sure to review this chapter, Thanks for reading! :)


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer : Air Gear is not mine, it belongs to Ogure Ito.**

They say when the pain is most excruciating, you know that it is about to end. It is true, to a certain extent. The white arena was destroyed to nothing but rubbles and dust. All along the huge space, pieces of white concrete crumble onto the similarly wrecked tiles. It was like a scene out of a war movie. Injured casualties were either motionless or writhing in pain. No one was spared from the catastrophic effect of the double tornado clashing in the enclosed space. Far below the surface, the Trophaeum Tower began to inch upwards. Creaking, slowly moving towards the surface as the doors of the Trophaeum Tower get closer to finally revealing itself after a long, long time. It was only a matter of time before the Sky Regalia would fall into the hands of Takeuchi Sora.

Time is ticking.

_Tik, tok _

Xx

Pain. That was the first thing she felt when she awoke. If she said that someone had broken her whole body, that expression wasn't an exaggeration. In fact, it would be an understatement. Every joint in her body felt detached and utterly _weak_. Every muscle felt like a stretched wire in her body. She was terrified to think of the state of her body right now; she might go into panic if she did.

She tried to search for a memory to hold on to, an indication that could explain why she was in this situation in the first place ; but failed. Her memory wouldn't allow her to find the answers she needed. Every time she found a lead, one that she held onto a sliver of hope which could resolve her frustrations, it would always wind into another dead end. It was as if her brain was under lockdown, under a new management and she couldn't fight the power off. She tried again.

Pieces of memories floated around in her head. Most of them consisted of the images of Rika-Nee and a couple of other people. Rika-Nee in a deserted land, filled with land mines.. talking to her. She couldn't remember the contents of their conversation, nor could she tell if their meeting really happened. Some part of her tried to reason out with her that she couldn't have been in a land mine even if she tried, thus reason enough to prove that the memory was merely an imagination. But she couldn't shake off the feeling that it had occurred. If only her sense of logic wouldn't temper with the thought.

Then there was the after-images of being hit of the head by Sora. Through her closed eyes, she could repeat the whole event as if it had happened 5 minutes ago. What happened afterwards was the part that boggled her. The memory eluded her, like trying to catch an eel in mud. She could vaguely recall fighting Sora and Nike for a short period, then shortly after having her head smashed against a concrete wall. That might have been what had caused her this memory loss which she hoped was only temporary. The only thing that is clear right now is that the Sky Regalia is in definite danger .

_Protect the Sky Regalia_

Her head throbbed with immense pain. She needed help, and fast. In the condition that she was in, she could hardly feel the air move in her lungs. All she was doing was merely trying to_ stay_ alive. She cracked her eyes open, bringing much effort as she did so. The image was a blur. She could register a few things which were mostly pretty useless. Dust..Dust. More dust. _Where am I? _Her pupils focused on her surroundings, and she knew. This is the underground laboratory, the secret hide-out for Sleeping Forest. Or it used to be. She couldn't believe what had happened to the megadome structure she had been particularly proud of. It was reduced to nothing but crumbles of concretes and dust. It was as if a storm had hit it.

_A storm._

It's a natural phenomenon when an astronomical body's atmosphere is in a disturbed state. _No.. It's not. It's.._ A storm is a storm. There's nothing else that can be associated with it. Except there is, but she can't recall what it is exactly. Or _who _, to be exact . Her eyes scanned the room. There were a few people lying on the floor, though she couldn't see their faces clearly from the position she was in. The ones she saw, which she could immediately recognize were Mikan and Kazu. They were both unconscious and injured. A pang of worry ran through her. _Are they alive?_

She tried to flex her fingers, and found that she couldn't. They were numb. In fact, she could hardly even feel her arm and legs. _Huh, so maybe this is the end_. Ringo sighed and closed her eyes, too tired to will her body to move any longer. Then, she heard a voice. A rough, but warm voice which snapped her eyes open back again. One which made her heart beat faster, even though she could hardly feel it. She knew, whoever this was, he must mean something to her. _Who.._

"Ringo.." Ikki dragged himself towards Ringo's body. She had blood trailing from her mouth and nose. Her eyes were opened for a few seconds, but even then they seemed unfocused and weak. Terrifyingly enough, he realized that she was dying. The Thorn Queen whom had taken over of her body had inflicted sufficient amount of damages onto her fragile human body in a matter of minutes. Ikki's hand trembled as it reached out towards Ringo. _This can't be happening.._

Scared of lifting her up, he simply sat next to her. He then gently cupped her face, bringing his face closer to her bloodied one. "Ringo, hey, wake up." Her eyes snapped open, now fully focused onto him. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. Ikki gulped, feeling a familiar sinking feeling in his chest. He felt a boulder jam up in his throat. This time, he definitely wouldn't, _couldn't_ let another one of his precious family members die on him. He needs to get her to the hospital.

Ringo looked at the boy with curious eyes. His hands were warmly holding her cold cheeks. For some reason, she felt completely at ease at the sudden intimacy. "Ringo, hey, wake up." His voice went through her head, bringing another bout of bells ringing. She knows who he is, but she can't place whom exactly. Ringo opened her mouth to reply, but her voice wouldn't come out. Her breath were shallow and her surroundings were starting to dim around her.

"Ringo, stay with me. Stay alive." Ikki said, through gritted teeth. "Goddamnit." His left hand reached for his back pocket and immediately produced a cellphone. Deftly, his fingers pressed on the first number they found, which incidentally happened to be Aeons', thankfully.

"Ikki-sama!"

"National Library. Now. I need an ambulance."

His instructions were straight to the point, and it came out in a tense and clipped manner. The moment he hit 'end' , Ikki took in a deep breath. Ringo's chest rose up and down shallowly. Tentatively, he hooked an arm below her neck, supporting it, and another around her legs. He didn't have time to worry whether or not he was doing the right thing. He just knew that she was dying, and that was reason enough to pull himself back together.

Ringo's eyes were fixed on him the entire time. She tried to talk again, this time managing to squeeze a whisper out. He craned his left ear closer to her mouth. "Who.. are you?" Her soft , sweet voice which had called his name a few hours ago.. was now asking him who he was. Ikki looked at her, too stunned to speak. She wasn't under the Thorn Queen's influence, so what the hell is she saying? She looked at him with a curious expression, and it sunk into him that she was actually serious. He opened his mouth , hesitated, and smiled as he said "I'm Minami Itsuki. Your.. friend. You'll make it out of this, alive. Don't worry."

He ran out of from the underground catastrophe , carrying her with the utmost care he could manage. When he reached the lobby entrance, he nearly cursed out loud, remembering that they entered from the rooftop. How were they going to get out? Just then, He heard rushes of footsteps and voices coming towards him. "Ikki!" "Oh, god. Ringo!" Emily was the first to reach him, followed by the rest. For a moment, he felt overwhelmed by the sudden rush. "How's the rest?" Buccha asked calmly. "They're alive, but injured. You guys need to help them. And I need to get her to a hospital, she's dying." Ikki glanced at the glass door – it was sealed shut.

"It's locked. We tried looking for the keys but we couldn't find anything.." Onigiri said, frustrated. "Then we'll just have to smash it open by ourselves." Ikki was about to do just that, but then he realized that he had Ringo in his hands. "Don't worry, I got this." Buccha flexed his knuckles. With one well-aimed kick, the glass door came shattering down.. along with the security alarm system. Shards of glass scattered all over the floor. Ikki automatically curled himself over Ringo , protecting her. The alarm continued to blare deafeningly over the quiet 3AM road. Ikki looked around the bend. _Where is Aeon?_

As if directly on cue , the sound of a siren suddenly appeared out of nowhere, getting louder by the second. By the time he realized it, the ambulance was already in front of him. "Ikki-sama!" Aeon ran out of the ambulance over to Ikki, looking worried. Ikki lifted his head to look at Aeon and past him where Spitfire and Kilik stood, coming out of the ambulance, looking dazed over the wailing alarm sound. Paramedics ran out of the vehicle, snapping open a stretcher easily. Two men came over and to his surprise, gently lifted her out of his embrace onto the stretcher.

"Are you alright? What happened?" Aeon asked. Kilik and Spitfire came over, standing patiently. Ikki's mind went numb for a moment before it snapped back to reality. "Wait! There are more casualties down there.. and a dead woman, too." Ikki spoke slowly. He turned to the three men who had bewildered expressions on their faces. Taking a deep breath, he said "Rika-Nee.. She's dead. Sora killed her."

XX

At the hospital :

It was a blur of paperworks and questions as soon as Ringo was administered into the operating theatre. Aeon handled the fees briskly while the rest of Kogarasumaru were administered for some treatment. Most of their injuries weren't too serious, except for Ringo. Ikki sat still on the hospital bed as the nurse stitched the wound in his forearm closed. He could barely concentrate on the needle going in and out of his skin. All he did was pray that Ringo was going to be fine. She has to.

After everything was taken care of, Aeon sat on a stool outside in the waiting room, along with most of the team members who weren't injured . Spitifre had a hot cup of coffee in his hand, which he offered to Aeon. Aeon gratefully took a sip, glancing at Kilik. The man had barely said a word after hearing of Rika's death. All he did was stare at the wall for what seemed like ages. It came as a shock to all of them, but obviously he was affected the most. Suddenly, Kilik stood up and walked away towards the men's bathroom. Both Aeon and Spitfire looked at each other sadly. They knew he harboured feelings towards Rika. But she's dead now, and there's nothing they could do to bring her back.

Moments later, Ikki came out of the doctor's office . Aeon rushed to his side, carefully leading him to a stool. He silently looked at the door of the surgery theatre, biting his lower lip. "Damn it ..Damnit." Ikki felt utterly helpless. Not only was Rika-Nee dead, Ringo's critical condition wasn't any better either. If she doesn't make it out of that surgery theatre alive, he wouldn't know how he would live with himself.

"Ikki-sama.. I've got something for you." Aeon said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "What is it?" Ikki said, his voice hollow of any emotions. Now would be as good of a time as any other. Aeon took a seat in front of Ikki and reached into his pockets, holding a round object in his hands. Ikki slowly looked at him, trying to guess what it is. Only when Aeon opened his fingers, it dawned upon Ikki that he had actually seen it before. The words 'Welcome to Nightmare' was engraved onto the wheels. "This is.."

"A bagram . The wind bagram." A voice came in from behind Ikki. Kilik walked in front of Ikki, looking at him with a grave expression. A pause .Then, "Whoa." Was all he could manage. Ikki's eyes widened , taking the bagram into his trembling hands. Spitfire then took the other pair out of his pockets and handed them to Ikki. "Alright, listen. This is not just any bagram, its the authentic – the _only_ wind bagram in this world." Ikki nodded, holding both bagrams in his hands. "...Um. I don't know how to say this.." A troubled look flitted across Kilik's normally stoic face. That grabbed Ikki's full attention.

"What?"

"I guess I'd better tell you this before you go head on with Takeuchi Sora." There was a hint of repulsion in the tone of his voice, but he continued. "Do you.. know who your family is? Your _real_ family I mean." Ikki considered this question, thinking back on how much he had pondered over his roots practically all his life. "Go on." Kilik took a moment and dove straight. "Your father is a world renowned scientist, Rinta Minami. Don't ask me how I know these things, I just do." Kilik held a hand before Ikki could utter a word and continued. "Your mother's whereabouts are unknown. Only Dr. Minami knows where she is. As for siblings.. you have one elder brother." Kilik locked eyes with Ikki, a frown forming on his forehead. "Takeuchi Sora."

Nobody said a word. There was a long,awkward pause where all they heard were the blast of the aircond and shuffles of footsteps on the clean hospital floor. Ikki held his gaze, letting Kilik's words sink in. No matter how ridiculous it sound, no matter how much he wished he hadn't heard what he just heard- the damage has been done. A part of him was somehow relieved to know that he has a family who were alive. There was just one part that didn't quite fit in. In fact, it shouldn't even be in the equation at all. "Wait, He can't be!You're wrong." Ikki said, not bothering to hide his anger. "I wish I was. It's up to you to believe it, but I swear- it's the truth." There wasn't a modicum of doubt in Kilik's voice. Kilik sighed. "You're not the only one who's about to lose your mind. He took Rika away from you. From me" His voice sounded as if it was about to break.

"Sora Takeuchi.. is my brother."

_I'm going to kill him! _The words he said resurfaced, almost taunting him. He killed Rika-Nee. He shouldn't even be having a seed of doubt in his mind. Not even if he was his biological brother. "You're lying." Kilik looked at Spitfire and Aeon, now genuinely concerned."You were lying, right?" Ikki asked through clenched teeth, almost pleadingly. Kilik looked at him regretfully. "It's the truth, I'm sorry." Maybe he shouldn't have told him anything. Sometimes the truth should just stay buried for everyone's sake. "HE KILLED RIKA-NEE!" Ikki screamed , a tear suddenly falling down his face.

Just a few seconds later, Kazu, with Emily supporting him limped down the hallway towards Ikki. Kilik looked at the blonde boy, nodded and stood up. "What's wrong?" Ikki had his head in his hands. He lifted his head and looked at Kazu with a look that tore his heart apart. "I said that I would kill him.. Damnit!" Ikki laid his head back onto the headrest, trying to hold back his tears. Emily let Kazu sit next Ikki and walked away, along with Aeon, Spitfire and Kilik.

"I thought you were going to, Ikki. What's wrong?" Kazu asked, sitting down. Ikki barked one bitter laugh, looking at the ceiling. "That bastard.. He's my brother. He's my _real_ brother." Ikki said. His sarcastic tone suggested that he was joking, but his expression was too severe for him to be doing so. Kazu sucked in a deep breath. "Whoa." "I know." "You sure about this ?" "I am." Kazu turned his head, looking at Ikki. "What're you gonna do?" "I don't know, Kazu. I really don't."

Xx

A beep in the monitor abruptly tore Dr. Minami's attention away from his daydream. The sound of little boys laughing in his head dissipated like bubbles into thin air. The red spot pulsated, indicating that it was dangerously near. He dragged his chair towards the computer plugged to the machine and started to tap away furiously. "..Damn." From the looks of it, the gates of the Trophaeum Tower was already halfway opened. Even he, the one who created it, couldn't stop it now. If that were to continue..

Dr. Minami quickly made a call. "It's opening. You don't have any more time to lose.. I'm coming." As soon as the person on the other line ended the call, he threw off his labcoat and headed outside. He has two things at stake, and neither of them were in the most reassuring place. First, the sky regalia is merely an hour; at most, away from falling into the hands of Takeuchi Sora. Secondly, he has less than an hour before his sons massacred each other.

Time is ticking.

_Tik, Tok  
_

**Author's Note**: I'm sorry it took me so long to update! It's been so hectic, with all the assignments and tutorials. (Ugh Uni life.) Anyway, I wanted to thank you for reading my fanfic. **Also, do drop me a review , it motivates me to write more :) **

Cheers!


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: Air Gear belongs to Ogure Ito**

The line went dead. Kilik could do nothing for a long 10 seconds but stare at the floor with the phone still placed next to his ear before dropping it completely. The ground began to shake, and he immediately started to run.

XX

Ikki could feel his head swimming about as he sat, pondering about his life. One minute, everything was going fine. The next he loses his sister , albeit non-biological, but as much of a sister as any older sister in the world will be. Annoying, pushy and fiercely protective . He never even got the chance to tell her how much he loved her, how sorry he was for being a burden onto her, how he would make up for it, how.. But it's all too late now. Sora snatched those opportunities away from him. He took the only mother-figure he ever had in his life permanently.

His thoughts wandered towards his real parents. Somehow, he wasn't the least bit elated or overjoyed at the prospect of having two strangers who after creating him, easily decided to abandon him. Worse still, they created the monster who in turn killed _his_ one and only parent-figure. The irony of it all made him laugh.

Suddenly, the floor started to shake and he found himself swaying dangerously from side to side. He looked around and felt a grip on his arm. "Shit. Is this an earthquake?" Kazu's eye were large from fear. "It feels like it.." Ikki answered, holding on tightly to his seat. Thankfully, the vibrations were relatively minor compared to the normal ones they usually had, but it lasted for quite a while.

Murmurs of anxiety began to be heard across the marbled hallway, followed by the sound of a person running. Kilik zoomed past everyone else, not paying the least bit attention to the shouts of the nurses, straight towards Ikki. "The Trophaeum Tower is opening! We can't afford to lose any more time. We've gotta go now!" His expression was wild, and there was trepidation in his eyes. It was as if Kilik had finally snapped. If Kilik was about to lose his head, then no words can even be used to described how bad the situation was.

"Wait! Didn't you feel the earthquake?" Kazu asked, incredulous at Kilik's apparent lack of interest at the vibrations. "That wasn't an earthquake. That was the Trophaeum Tower. It's magnitude is so large you'd probably feel the repercussions of the gates opening within a 12 mile radius." Kilik turned towards Ikki. "Sora did 'd finally opened the tower." The thought sank into him. The Tower was the home of the Sky Regalia, and now the prize was just within his Sky Regalia would fall into Sora's hands, and everything they had been fighting for would be rendered meaningless. Rika's _death_ would be meaningless.

Ikki's hands closed into a fist. What kind of man would he be if he couldn't even defend a woman's pride, let alone his? He had promised to not only Ringo , but to himself, the day he left the house that he would show her his 'run'. Now would as good of a time as any to prove himself. In an instant, His gaze suddenly turned alert, alive and focused. He got up onto his feet, pushing the chair back into an ear piercing graze.

"Let's go."

XX

The animals within a 5 mile radius had begun to bark a riot at the unexpected vibration. The suddenness of the so-called earthquake took them by the neck, and this in turn woke the entire neighbourhood with the incessant barking. Not to mention the slightly worrying earthquake which threatened to throw them off their beds . As the half awaken people ventured out of their houses, they couldn't help but to gasp in shock at the sight that greeted them. It definitely was something worth to be seen at 3 in the morning.

What greeted them instead of the usual calmness of the pitch black sky was a tower. Not just any type of tower. It was a tower which imposed strength, power and awe to those who saw it. It took their breath away. Yet, it wasn't even erected to it's full height. The Tower was merely halfway up in the open air, growing taller than any of the buildings around it by the minute. Would it not have been for the impending doom which was escalating around the tower, Minami Rinta would have been genuinely proud of his creation.

The ground shook more violently as the tower continued growing , destroying what before should have been known as The National Library. Needless to say, thousands of yens of national treasures went tumbling, crashing into the ground to make way for the erection of the humongous tower. It's gray metallic body shone slyly against the dark sky, calling upon riders – daring them to step foot into the Trophaeum Tower.

Then , standing tall and strong on top of the tower itself was a silhouette of two men. They stood as the calm before the storm, standing back to back to the other. Everyone stood , gaping at the magnificent sight before them. "Look! There are people on top of that tower!"

Aeon's helicopter hovered over the tall buildings , heading towards the Trophaeum Tower. The passengers sat in the chopper, silently observing the situation below. "The tower is ahead of us. I cannot land on the tower, Sir. What would you like me to do?" The pilot reported over the intercom. Far ahead where the Tower loomed, they could observe the figures of Sora and Nike. They took notice of the helicopter right away, turning around to face them.

Aeon smiled a mirthless smile. There was no way they were going anywhere near the tower, noticing the odd-shaped objects which surrounded the entire tower swallowing anything that comes near it whole. Such was the clever creations of Minami Rinta. Speaking of which, Shouldn't he at least be here for the glorious moment in which his beloved creation destructs humanity? That man sure knew how to put on a show. "Thats alright, we'll let ourselves out within 100 metres." Aeon spoke loudly into the intercom, making sure everyone heard him clearly over the noise.

3 pairs of eyes turned towards him. Spitfire, Kilik and Ikki all wore a matching expression of malevolence. Kilik's clean appearance didn't kid anyone. The man reeked of vengeance and hatred, contrary to his usually calm demeanour. Spitfire knew this was not his fight. To step into this fight would imply a great insult towards Kilik and Ikki. Then, with a sudden abruptness, Ikki spoke into the intercom.

"Leave Sora to me ."

He almost sounded primal. Nobody argued with him.

XX

The black Mercedes McLaren SLR 772 screeched as it swerved over another sharp turning, barely dodging the road divider. Minami Rinta started to sweat in excitement at the thought of finally having a chance to push the speed limit of the car to its maximum speed. Only a few were made, and his was specially custom made with red leather seats with an 'M' engraved on the headrest of the car. The car was his pride. Normally, he would only be using his silver Honda out for daily uses, keeping the Mercedes safe in the underground garage he built under his home. But today was different.

The Tower he built to house the Sky Regalia was never meant to be opened. Never in his life would he have thought that the tower would actually be brought out of the earth. He should have been proud of his own creation, but all he could think was making the car move faster - although at a breakneck speed of 280 km/h, the car was practically flying. The Sky Regalia is and will always be his prized creation, one that he had always admired. However, it seemed pretty insignificant compared to the price of his son's blood.

He didn't have to wait much longer, for the Tower was already a hundred feet away from him. Amazingly enough, the car halted smoothly in a short span of 4 seconds just metres away from the scene. The beauty of German automobiles never ceases to amaze _anyone_. He dove out of the car, amidst the rubbles, dust and crowd which had begun to gather around the tower. Red sirens from police cars surrounded the area. Most of the police were sealing off the area, trying to maintain composure. The crowds stood in groups, murmuring among each other, noticing the man who had stylishly arrive in a jet black Mercedes.

Dr. Minami walked briskly towards the Tower. Not only did he have to stop Sora from getting the Sky Regalia, but he knew that the growth of the tower itself needed to stop. Once it reaches its maximum height, there was no way it was coming down. Planes will eventually crash into the tower. He continued walking forward, but halfway through a young officer grabbed him by the shoulder. "Sir, this is a restricted area. I will have to advise you to back off for your own safety." By the look on the officer's face, Dr. Minami deduced two things ; That the officer was young, and that he was extremely scared.

This was a simple thing. Dr. Minami smiled a smile which reached his eyes. He placed both arms on the officer's shoulders and said "Don't worry, I'm going to stop this mess. Trust me." He said it with such confidence and authority that the officer felt the need to comply with the man. "But sir..!" Dr. Minami took his hesitation and quickly dashed into the rubble , away from the officer's reach. Bless this mess.

Xx

"They're here."

Sora flexed his knuckles, smiling at the sound it made. _Maybe I'll get some exercise first. _"Move. Let me get some exercise.." Sora smirked. Why not be a good host and send the guests a welcoming committee. Making a 10 feet leap into the air, Sora turned his body around and touched the wall of air. With a well-practiced kick, he released a powerful pile of wind from the air. The move was his signature move called the "Tornado". There was a reason why it was called so. The wind itself was so strong it'd easily crush concrete, and at 80km/h, it was most certainly deadly destructive.

It was heading straight for the helicopter.

XX

"Sir, theres a tornado heading towards us!"

The pilot's voice was the embodiment of fear, panic and desperation rolled into one as he saw the tornado vault towards them."Get out of here NOW!" Aeon yelled, ripping off his headset. No one wasted another moment's notice and scrambled out of the helicopter. Spitfire grabbed the pilot and jumped out, followed by Aeon, Kilik and finally Ikki. The tornado missed Ikki by seconds before it piled through the helicopter with a deafening boom.

Ikki and Kilik weaved a path straight towards the Tower, both shielding themselves from the scattered metals and fireballs from the exploded helicopter. A few sparked splinters grazed Kilik's shirt, charring the white material black. "Ikki, I'll take care of Nike. You just.. try to stay alive and get the hell out of my way." "Tch, YOU stay out of MY way!" Ikki retorted. He's glad to have a partner like him fighting by his side. Someone who saw the same reason to fight, someone he felt that he could trust.

The moment was still and calm in that short few seconds where all 4 men eyed each other, staring his opponent down. It all finally came boiling down to this one fight. Ikki took a deep breath and smiled. His body felt weightless, supported by the wind. In that one moment, he felt like he could achieve anything and everything in the world. The rush of his blood pumping through his veins confirmed one thing; That he came here to defeat Takeuchi Sora , and he will emerge victorious.

_It's payback time_.

The Tower was hollow, filled with nothing but lines and lines of pipes running all the way down the tower. What Takeuchi Sora stood on now is a metal railing, but he immediately abandoned his position and threw himself down. At first, Ikki was slightly puzzled by Sora's action. But as soon as his mind linked itself to the sole purpose of the fight, Ikki sped up and bounded for him. Nike nearly caught Ikki by the heels with his sharp ATs, but Kilik managed to stop his strike just in time.

"Where are you looking at? Your opponent is me." He snarled.

Sora kept diving down the tower with immense speed, easily leaving Ikki behind. The speed Sora ran at was high enough to destroy the tower's innards. With every metre he covered, he managed to leave a trail of smoky white fumes from the friction between his ATs and the metal. The unpleasant charred smell of burnt metal continued diffusing into Ikki's nose, making him cough. This was only his running speed, without actually using any tricks. The thought nearly made him shrink.

Ikki flipped over another giant pipe, focusing on his landing when he heard a sound coming directly below him. The wind from below seemed to be sucked into a terrifyingly strong vacuum. The sound continued to whirr around him, getting louder and louder. "Show yourself!" Ikki yelled. His shout became lost in the vortex of whirring wind. Fear began enveloping him. He was trapped in this current of wind, _inside_ a tower.

Ikki tried to ride the wind as best as he could, all the while checking the wind for the slightest movement. Suddenly, Sora's eerily calm voice came up just inches away. "Where are you looking at, kid?" . Ikki abruptly turned around and saw Sora standing over him. The wind seemed to be sucked into where his ATs were, and yet there he was, standing calmly over the violent vortex below. _When did he get behind me?_

"So, you said that you were going to kill me? Let's see how that goes." There was that tone of smugness in his voice. Sora looked at him through a pair of slit eyes "Moonstruck Numberless Grappler". Ikki barely had time to block the solid block of wind that came crashing down upon him in the next second. There was a thundering boom of wind , followed by a brilliant flash of white and the next thing Ikki knew, his body was flung downwards into the Tower. Helpless, like a ragdoll caught in a tsunami of wind.

Seldom enough do normal people survive a 180km/h wind, and this time- Ikki couldn't escape it.

XX

The 15 inch thick metal door finally opened at the scan of Dr. Minami's palm read. He took a careful step into the base of the tower, feeling the air pressure build around him like concrete. Immediately, he ran over the control section and set-up a net of air stabilizer. In an instant, he lost all sense of dizziness when the air pressure was lifted off the room. He didn't bother checking the vicinities, knowing full well of the technology and the condition it would be in.

Even after 25 years of building the Trophaeum Tower, the composition of the tower was still sturdy and running smoothly. How could it not? It was after all made by the world's leading mad scientist; Minami Rinta . But now was not the time to ponder over the complexities or wonders of the Tower. Now was the time to put the growth of the wretched Tower to a halt.

Dr. Minami ran towards the right where a series of codes were plastered over the monitor. Immediately, he began tapping away on the glass board. More resistance came from the server, one which he designed himself, ironically enough. The inscriptions on the keyboard were long winded and complicated, but that only made him quiver with excitement from the challenge posed.

Somewhere in the middle of the tapping, Dr. Minami felt the tower shake. For starters, the tremors were only meant to be felt _outside_ the Tower. That was precisely how he designed it to function. This only meant that the tremor was produced inside the tower. He trembled slightly, knowing just how much of power that would have took to shake the tower. Judging by the tremor, he estimated the impact would have been about 400 metres away. _This is bad_

Xx

Ikki's body flew through the void space of the tower. The first thing he tried to do was try to get himself out of Sora's tornado blast, but found that his entire body was locked in. He felt something hard hit his back, and the impact made him see white. Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulders. It was something solid, but the only person down here was him. And Kilik wasn't done with his fight up above the tower. So what, or rather who, was that?

_Live, Ikki. _

Ikki's eyes snapped open. That was Rika-Nee's voice. "Rika..Nee?" His whisper was drowned by the storm, but he could still feel the gentle touch of her hand on his shoulders. It was as if another person had entered his mind when he heard the words she said. A new strength came over him, washing over him and consequently feeding him strength. Then, his body began to move. Stronger, leaner – faster.

It could have been the situation playing a trick on his mind. But at the time, he didn't think twice about it and surrendered himself to the power. It paralyzed him in the instant it awoke, like taking pure marijuana straight into the system. Then suddenly, in the next second in which he wriggled out of his temporary spot of comfort, the power took root. The power spread all over him, crushing the weak and useless links in his body. In their place were wind, rough and raw, offering themselves to him. He felt light, weightless.. As if he had somehow merged, or rather fused into one with wind itself.

Then the wind became nothing but a tool for him. All this while he had been caught up underneath the current of wind , dragging him down that he failed to realize the power that had been calling out to him. He felt the stroke of the wind, as volatile as it was, it was merely a gentle breeze once he knew how to manipulate it. Seconds before his head crashed into a large metal gauge, he materialized his new found powers.

Ikki smashed his palm down, creating a base of air to propel the force backwards. The wind beneath created a momentum for him to create enough energy in order for it to be properly released without straining himself. He then continued to play with the motion, until finally the wind was so strong it felt as if it were about to tear the tower apart, He released it.

**Author's Note:**

Hey guys, I AM SO SO SORRY FOR THE SUPER LATE UPDATE. I blame uni, but it might've just been me and my lazy streak. I'M SORRRYYYYY! Btw, I really appreciate it when someone reminds me to start writing again, just so I'd get a kick / motivation to write again (You know who you are) :) _Thank you for reading my fanfiction_ *bows*  
Do leave a review, I'd love to hear you guys' thoughts on the new chapter.


	18. Chapter 18

Dear readers,

I am so sorry for not updating in such a ridiculously long time. To be honest, I've been swamped with courseworks and my exam is right around the corner. But obviously that doesn't justify my disappearance for the past 3, 4(?) months. So, I apologize for that. Also, to those who have been reading my fanfic up till now, thank you so, very much *bows*

This is my vow, right after my exams end, which will be at the end of May.. I will publish the final chapter. I hope you'll bear with me till then.

Eternally grateful,

Your lazy author.


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer : Air Gear belongs to Ogure Ito**

Chapter 17:

It was as if a dragon had been freed, releasing it's first roar. The entire Tower shook from the monstrous impact of Ikki's Air Tornado. Ikki's air blast created from the void in the air, combined with the pressure of the compressed surroundings created an undeniably powerful burst of power. Compared to Ikki's Tornado, Sora's earlier trick nearly seemed childish. This was the _real_thing. The wind sliced chunks of metal through and through like butter, violent and unstoppable. For a few seconds, Ikki couldn't concentrate on anything but the impact of the tornado he had released. The loud sound reverberated, shaking him hard till the momentum reached his heart. His ears craned, scanning to hear the harsh cry of his opponent over the sound of metal and air whipping and breaking apart.

Ikki slowly placed a hand over his heart, feeling the beat of his heart hammering against his ribcage. He didn't even know that he was capable of creating such an impossibly destructive trick, but there it was, resonating all around him. He waited for a sound of his opponent. Yet, there was still no sound of the fall, just the sweeping sound of ash floating in the void.

Death was the only reasonable answer. No normal human could have withstood the blast and lived. Ikki hopped downwards, squinting, expecting to see the remains of the Sky King. There was nothing but a void, and there was a sudden shifting hollowness. Suddenly, the world seemed to move. Everything around him seemed to move, creak and rumble. Then, rows and rows of pipes of the mighty Tower started peeling apart, the insides of the Tower was starting to crumble. It was self-destructing.

Then, out of nowhere, Ikki heard a voice.

"..Ikki.."

_Sora._

xxx

It's done.

Dr Minami slapped the table with a satisfied grin. The encryption of the "Self-Destruct" mechanism seemed complicated at first, but he soon eased into the process like a well-oiled machine. He knew the consequences of the growth of the estranged Tower. It wasn't the simple painted reason of a disturbance in the aerial system, it was the fact that the Tower was threatening innocent lives that made him grow anxious, and frustrated at his own foolishness for creating it in the first place. The moment the Tower reaches the Troposphere, the Tower would activate numerous anti-gravity plates he had planted all over the district and weaken the Earth's gravity for those parts. The idea seemed relevantly futuristic then, but now, it was a recipe for disaster.

As a man, he loved to gamble. He could enter a casino wearing the most expensive Armani suit in town and go home with not a single thread left on him. Other times he would scrape his winnings clean. It was all about risks. The riskier the better, the more he bet, the more fired up he'd get. It just didn't occur to him just how much he would potentially lose from building all of _this_.

The Tower wasn't just a symbol or monument of his knowledge and power, it was also a device to shatter the one thing keeping humans apart from the universe. _The Sky_. The technology developed from the construction of the Tower would have been sufficient to support a third-world country and outrank all of the first world countries combined. All hail Japan.

Suddenly, the screen flashed, and his smile froze in place. There was a man on the opposite side of the concrete wall, and he was staring right through the camera, as if he knew he was there watching him. Sora stood near the rubble and wreckage that threatened to fall apart at the slightest touch. The Tower was now self destructing, and it was going to go under within a couple of minutes. The other man knew this, and he stared at the camera, straight into Dr Minami's soul. His gaze was neither melancholy nor menacing, instead, there was a sort of peace in those eyes. Dr Minami had never seen the man wear such a look before. Then, his face broke out into a small smile, and Dr Minami broke down.

Sora. _My little boy_.

For the first time in a very long while, the walls of Dr Minami's guarded heart tore down. Has it been that long since he saw him smile? As the image of the little boy he tenderly cherished surfaced, the man in the screen mouthed a word. It was such a simple word, a basic one in fact, which was what made it all the more painful.

_Goodbye_

Xxx

"..Ikki."

Sora's hoarse voice echoed from beneath the veil of smoke, deeper beneath into the Tower. The man wasn't dead, and as far as Ikki was concerned, he was better off being burnt alive and fed to the dogs. Yet, fighting Sora hadn't fired up his spirit in the least, and he felt somewhat remorseful . It was an odd feeling. The more he fought Sora, the less hateful he became. Rika's death was only recent, and it was understandable for him to feel the fresh wound to sting. And yet, with every step he took towards Sora, who was now in plain view, standing calmly in the middle of the debris, he felt his vengeance slowly whisk away.

Now, Sora stood before him, a mere 10 feet separating them both. That was more than enough distance for Ikki to slice his body into slivers of human meat. It took him less than a couple of seconds to end the life of the woman who raised him, and he shouldn't even be giving the bastard a second thought. Ikki stared into Sora's black eyes. He had decided that he would kill this man, regardless what Kilik just told him. Yet, his mind was suddenly collectively undecided.

"So, how does it feel?" Sora spoke, his voice rough from the strain. Ikki had expected a more threatening line from the man who had baited him into this battle. "To have his ass kicked? You tell me."Ikki replied. He stared at him anxiously, anticipating a sneak attack, something he could count on from a person as low as Sora. At the moment though, Sora was standing so perfectly still that he might've blended in with the atmosphere. Sora barked a short, bitter laugh. "No..To lose the person you care about the most."

Ikki sucked in a sharp breath. _This guy.. He's enjoying this._ "Why did you do it?" No matter how angry he was, he couldn't climb out of this wrecked tower without knowing why Rika was murdered. "She was simply in my way ; Collateral damage." He shrugged " I wanted to be King of the Sky.. but she just couldn't stay out of it. Too bad.." Sora said, without a hint of regret. His tone was positively brash and pompous. Ikki had just had about enough when Sora pushed the serrated knife of truth deeper into his wound."" He drawled the last two words longer than necessary. Suddenly, there was nothing holding Ikki back.

Sora could feel himself peeling from the inside out. The damage he incurred from Ikki's powerful blast was immense, and there was nothing left that could possibly save him. His internal organs were severely damaged, and being this deep into the Earth's core only made it worse. On top of that, the coat of protective layer surrounding them from the pressure was getting lifted off at a very high rate. There was no telling how long the Tower would eventually crash down into the Earth, but whatever it was, it wasn't going to take too long. He stood still, watching Ikki advance towards him in slow motion.

_I'm coming back to you now, Mom_

It felt like a lifetime ago that Sora was in the embrace of his mother. She had the most beautiful voice that would lull him into a perfect dreamland, and he had loved her to pieces. Even from the time he could remember, he could recall her prattling cheerily about the sky, and how one day, she would be flying next to the birds and airplanes. She was so fixated on her impossible dream then that it gradually became his dream as well. But of course, being married to Minami Rinta, the chasm of gravity and reality separating her and her dreams would soon be stitched together with the miracles of science. He had been building the Trophaeum Tower in secrecy for years, but when it was finally completed, she tragically passed away giving birth to their second son.

It didn't just wreck him apart, Sora, who had always been closest to his mother was the one who had been deeply affected. He couldn't stop blaming the infant for his mother's death. So one day, after being woken up by the sound of his baby brother's wails in the middle of the night, he crept out of bed and stood over the bassinet where Ikki was laying. He firmly held a pillow and slowly descended both hands to cover his brother's face. The baby's cries were muffled and Sora pressed down harder. _Whoever killed mom must be killed too.. _Just as he was about to exert more pressure, threatening to break the baby's neck, Minami ran into the room and frantically grabbed Sora by the waist and threw the pillow away from the baby's face.

Losing his wife had not only broken him , but she had also left him two little boys to take care after. The man tried his best, but his best wasn't good enough. He could feel himself shrinking from the fear of his responsibilities from the sudden realization that he was alone. Then, one fateful night after catching Sora attempting to strangle his youngest son, just 4 months after her death, he hit a dead end. He was a failure as a father. The only resolution he could come up with was to hand Ikki over to the Noyamano family to which the mother of the 3 siblings Ikki were to live with were working under him. That way, he could effectively keep him safe and effectively have constant supervision over him. Having sent his baby away, however, he couldn't bring himself to part ways with his firstborn. So, he kept him close.. as one of his laboratory experiments.

Dr Minami knew of the irrational hatred his son bore towards Ikki, and despite his efforts of making the boy understand, Sora became a recluse and refused to allow anyone, not even his father, to kill his newfound obsession. For years, he relented and let himself be subjected to the experiments, coming closer to the dream his mother had always dreamt of, but never lived to see. Then one day, when he finally decided that he had had enough, he slipped away, along with the secrets of the Tower.

There were no other options left for him to choose and no more paths to be threaded. Sora's knees buckled. He could feel his strength drop to the floor the exact moment his knees hit the ground. Every breath Sora took was now laboured and strained. In the next second, he gagged and coughed out a trail of. Ikki stopped short in his mid-run, eyes wide and cautious. His fist was just inches away from connecting with Sora's left brain. "The fuck are you waiting for, finish me" Sora taunted, his voice a coarse whisper.

Ikki took a proper look at Sora. He was a monster who murdered his sister. This man deserved neither pity nor forgiveness. Yet, there he was, on his knees, blood trailing profusely from his mouth and nose. He was dying. Killing him would just pull him out of his misery. Ikki stepped back and let his fist fall to his side. Counting backwards from 5 to 1, he exhaled slowly. "All I ever wanted was for Rika to be happy. You took that away from her. I should be carving your eyeballs out." He huffed. "But I won't. I'm not a murderer like you.. because I wasn't raised that way." Ikki clenched his fists tighter and turned around. Sora stared at him incredulously, disbelieving what he just heard. Even after all this, the boy still couldn't bring himself to kill him. Did he hear him wrong? He coughed more blood, this time unable to support his own weight, he slumped on the floor.

Ikki turned around one last time. Sora had slumped down on the ground, barely moving. As much as he wanted to turn around, physically, he wasn't even sure if he could even get himself out of this place alive. Emotionally, he'd simply feel like throwing the man back into the deep pit. Either way, Sora was already dying. The structure of the Tower was now unbelievably shaky. Ikki knew he had to get himself out fast before he too, would be trapped underneath. There was barely the slightest hint of wind flowing in this part of the Tower, and the longer he stayed, the heavier the pressure felt. He stealthily moved up the pipes, dodging the fallen debris of metal scraps falling from above.

As he moved up the Tower, he felt an overwhelming sense of utter loneliness settle in his chest. He had lost his sister, mother, friend and protector in a span of less than 24 hours. Ringo is in the hospital, comatose. He had no idea how he could even break the news to her if she didn't even recognise who he was anymore. There was no sense of victory in this battle. He didn't even know how they could ever get back to being normal anymore.

Xx

The entire area surrounding a radius of 20 metres around the National Library was completely closed off to the public. Sirens of police cars blared incessanty in the early hours of the morning. It is currently 5:16AM and most of the illegal AT riders working under one of the main trident in the state were already safely locked at the back of the police van. Shortly after the Tower had first began it's move into the Earth's troposphere, the alarms of the base of Windstorm G-Men blared off for 15 solid minutes. Their leader, Wanijima Kaito, a tall man with long ash blonde hair lead his troops into the scene accompanied by 5 military air force F-15 Eagle jets storming into the heart of the city. With an astonishing speed of mach 2.5, each jet transported 10 trained, professional elite AT riders within minutes after the Tower emerged. They had even successfully captured one of the main AT leaders, Nike.

However, he was mildly annoyed to find that Sora was buried deep inside the Tower. That man held many precious secrets he could've used to obtain intelligence on the Mafia Trident controlling the city. Kaito inhaled his Menthol cigarette deeply, observing the area. Ambulances were also parked near the Tower, tending to the wounded. Ikki was sitting quietly in one of the ambulance, getting his blood pressure checked. Kilik on the other hand was getting his wrist bandaged, no doubt obtained from his battle with Nike earlier on. Those two men were evidently worn out from the all the fighting. Kaito calmly exhaled a puff of smoke and walked over to the duo.

Ikki lifted his gaze off the pavement and saw Kaito's tall, menacing form walking towards him. The moment he climbed out of the Tower, he had been interrogated mercilessly by Kaito. _Where is he? Who else is involved in this? What did you do to Sora? _Kaito fired question after question tirelessly until his speech aligned into a series of repeated answers, like a broken tape recorder. He only stopped when the paramedics had to forcefully remove him from the ambulance itself, leaving them to tend to the boy in peace. Now he's back, hopefully with a little less tenacity. Ikki gulped. Kaito rested one arm against the door, leaning in "You better get yourself rested cause I'm still not done with you." Ikki blinked stupidly "Yeah." "Cause if I find out you're lying I'm gonna rip your tongue out." He said coolly. " Yeah? I won't be much use then, would I?" Ikki replied back steadily, smirking. Kaito rolled his eyes and walked away, shouting orders at his men.

Kilik turned to him "Finally. I thought he'd never shut up." Ikki chuckled weakly, not fully smiling. His mind was elsewhere. "Hey, About Rika.. We'll give her a proper burial. Don't worry about everything. Leave it to me." Kilik looked at him straight in the eye and placed his good hand on Ikki's shoulder, squeezing it assuringly before getting up and leaving. He didn't know where to go. At this moment, all he wanted to do was stay by Ringo's side.

Xx

One week later:

Ringo could feel herself drifting into consciousness. She slowly opened her eyes, noticing the dark room and the surroundings. _I'm in a hospital.. Why am I in the hospital? _Ringo turned her head slightly, feeling sore from the cramp. There was a boy sleeping next to her. He is holding her hand in his. She looked at him, trying to figure out who he was. _Have I met him before..? _She ransacked through her dim memory and remembered._ He's the guy who carried me out of that Dome.. What was his name?_ Then suddenly, the boy rustled in his sleep. He moved around quite a bit before settling back into a deep slumber, all the while without releasing his hold on her hand. Ringo felt it then, the butterflies in her stomach. Her heart contracted, and she could feel all sorts of emotions for the boy holding her hand.

She didn't even understand why, but when she tried reaching out for him with her other arm which was still attached to the IV drip, a name clicked into place. "..Ikki." She whispered.

When she woke up again for the second time that day, the scenario had changed completely. Instead of darkness, the room was filled with light, and an awful lot of commotion. "Oh my god, guys! She's waking up!" There was a chorus of _oh my god_ s and the noise level shot up the roof. She cracked her eyes open, getting used to the bright light. She could hear someone running out of the room in haste, knocking a few people on the way out, desperately shouting for the nurse. "Back off, remember what the doctor said. Give her some space."All around her, she was surrounded by familiar, smiling faces of her family and friends. "Ringo, Hey, you alright?" Somebody held her forearm, and when she turned, she came face to face with Mikan and Ume. They were beaming happily at her, Ume now gently gathering her hands with both her hands. "Hey guys, I'm fine." She smiled cheerily. Then she turned towards the rest of the group of bright, expectant faces waiting for recognition. "Guys, you don't have to look at me like that. It's not like I'm dying, really!" Everyone broke into sighs and expressions of relief, crowding up her bed. A second later, the door burst open, followed by a doctor and behind him, Ikki.

"Everyone, I thought I told you to give her some space." The doctor said, disapprovingly, looking at the bunch of sheepish, guilty faces surrounding her now. He turned his attention back to Ringo, holding out a stethoscope and placing it on her chest. "Alright, just breathe normally." When he was done, he took out the Sphygmomanometer and placed her arm accordingly, calmly taking her blood pressure. She looked past the doctor to meet the concerned eyes of Minami Itsuki. For a moment, she felt as if everyone had left and there was only the two of them left in the room. The moment was cut short a moment later by the Doctor. "Everything's stable now, but I wouldn't recommend you to move around and do anything rigorous for two, three months. You're still recovering. " He packed up and left the room. "That's a relief. You're okay!" Mikan expressed. Her eyes were glassy, as was Ume's. Then, she realized someone was missing. "Hey, where's Rika-Nee?" She asked innocently. It was as if somebody pulled out the rug from underneath everyone. There was an awkward silence following her question, everyone averting eye contact with one another. Ringo turned to Mikan. Her face was contorted with anguish. "Mikan, Is she alright?" Mikan said nothing. She turned towards Ikki who had the same expression as Mikan did. "Hey, answer me. Where is Rika? Is she alright?" Her tone rose, growing desperate. Ringo clutched Ikki's hands and looked into his eyes. "Tell me the truth." Ikki opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again. He looked at the rest of the gang, motioning them to leave the room. It wasn't long till the room was cleared, looking much bigger now than it did moments ago. He cleared his throat. Ringo felt unsettled. Ikki sat by her bedside, looking at her in the eyes. "Ringo, Rika-Nee, She.. she's not here with us any longer." He took a moment, as if settling himself. "She passed away." The words "passed away" sounded foreign to Ringo's ears. Did she hear him wrong? "What? I'm sorry, I thought I just heard you say Rika-Nee 'passed away' " Ringo began, feeling uneasy. Ikki looked to Mikan and back to her, sighing. "She's gone, Ringo. She's.. dead." Just then, the words click into place and she felt the ground beneath her give way. It was a good thing she was sitting on the bed right that second, because if she didn't, the ground would've welcomed her instead. "What do you mean dead? She can't be!" Ringo shouted. She had never felt so desperate for an answer in her life. "How did she..?" She still couldn't bring herself to admit the fact that Rika had passed on. "It was during the Trophaeum Battle. Sora had strangled the life out of her." Even when Ikki regaled the story in it's full splendour back to Ringo, the pain was simply too new, too fresh and still too painful to bear. He didn't even realize it, but by the time he had finished, all 4 of them were in one tight embrace with a hole in their chest too big to heal.

Xx

It didn't take Ringo too long to regain her memories. She would wake up screaming in the middle of the night from violent, vivid dreams of the battle, and most of the time Ikki would come running to her to hold her close until she calmed down. Sometimes, she would regain almost an entire chapter of her lost memories, but other times she could only hold onto strings of it. It was painfully frustrating for her to not be able to remember. Everybody seemed to know what had gone down during the battle, but she was the only one grasping around the edges of nothing. Ringo gazed out the window of her bedroom, thinking of what the doctor had said. He warned her not to push herself too much, to simply let the memories waft in naturally, but he didn't lose a family member. He didn't understand. Knock knock Ringo didn't peel her eyes away from the horizon. She already knew who it was behind that door. "Come in." Ikki pushed the sliding door open, holding a tray with a cup of hot chocolate and biscuits. "I brought you something to eat." He walked over and set the tray on her bedside table. Ringo turned and smiled at him "Thanks. You don't have to keep doing this, you know. I'm already fine, the doctor said so." She said as she gingerly picked a biscuit and placed it into her mouth. Ikki sat down next to her on the bed and folded his legs. "It's alright, I want to. Besides.. If I left you alone in the kitchen, it might just burn down." He said. Ringo shot him a look as if saying "_please_". Some biscuit crumble stuck to the side of her mouth, and Ikki absent-mindedly thumbed them away and licked the remains off his thumb. "See what I mean?" Ikki laughed, jabbing her lightly on the arm. Ringo blinked, feeling her face warm up. That touch stirred something within her, like she's felt it before.

Her hands shot out and grabbed his and she gently put his hands at the side of her face. Closing her eyes, she tried to remember. "Tell me something no one else knows." Her long shadow covered him, covering his slightly taken aback expression. During the past two months, she had never shown any indications of affection, or any emotion that would tilt towards adoration, much less love towards him. She had put a mask of poker face, much unknown to him. She was the same girl he fell for, but somehow a changed woman in little ways. She didn't look at him the same way the old Ringo did, she didn't love him the way the old Ringo did. She was still his best friend, but he felt as if he had lost her. So when she asked him this question, he didn't know where to begin.

"You're a stubborn, pain in the ass, haughty, bad ass bitch who doesn't like to admit that she's wrong, even if I do prove you wrong you will always manage to manipulate my words and convince me, or anyone else for that matter, that they're wrong. Then again, you are pretty smart-"

Ringo opened her eyes and eyed him for a long while and very slowly said "Tell me something _no one else knows_."Then in that moment, Ikki found himself looking into the eyes of the girl who still loved him, even if that girl wasn't technically the same person, it was still her. Ikki thought for a moment, gauging that challenging look she was giving him. "Fine. You want to know? You have a birthmark underneath your right breast, I know because I kissed it. I also know that you get really hot when I slip my hands on your hips, like this-"He took away his hands and placed them on Ringo's hips, pulling her closer till their chests were touching. "And I know how your breath hitches when I kiss your shoulder.." He placed a supportive hand behind her back and dipped his head low until his lips was inches apart from her collarbone. As if on cue, she sucked in a sharp breath. Then when she realized she did exactly what he said, she tried to regain control of her breathing, but failed anyway when he placed a tender kiss on her neck. Ikki smirked and resurfaced, looking at her, challenging her to ask more.

Breathless, she couldn't say a thing. The moment was so perfect, as if time itself was standing still. As she looked into his eyes, her brain did a double take. Those eyes were very familiar, and not in the sense that she had been seeing the same person everyday for the past two months, this was different. It felt like her senses awoke at his , she remembered. Her head reeled at the sudden rush of memories that flooded her mind. Every detail of him was suddenly clearly portrayed in her mind. She could see the contours of his body, every sharp, bruised angle of him was suddenly there in her mind. It never really left, but it simply hid in a corner, waiting to be found. She had never felt so peaceful, so protected, so perfectly complete. Slowly, she placed her fingers on his neck, drawing him down. As if it was the most natural thing on earth, they kissed, and they felt whole and alive. Not once since Rika's passing did they experience something like this, emotions so erratic and uncontrollable, it was unreal. Then for the first time since two months ago, they felt as if that hole could be fixed. When they broke the kiss, neither one said a word, but in that silence itself, a thousand words were spoken.

_I love you, and I'll always be by your side, protecting you._

* * *

Author's note:

There, it's finally finished! I'm sorry for taking a thousand freaking years to upload the final chapter -_-" I got lazy, and I eventually forgot about my own work. God. Anyway, thank you so much for reading my fanfiction! I hope you had fun reading it, cause it.. wasn't so fun for me. Haha


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